Josh Rosen to the Browns: A comeback in the making?

On July 21^st, after a private workout with Cleveland’s coaching staff, the Cleveland Browns signed former UCLA star quarterback Josh Rosen to a 1-year contract, heading into NFL training camp.

Josh Rosen will be fighting for an NFL job this offseason and trying to potentially become Cleveland’s starting QB. Deshaun Watson is set to miss games due to ongoing court proceedings, with a likely suspension coming from the NFL soon.

Rosen was once considered a “can’t miss” superstar prospect coming out of high school. Infact, he was the number one quarterback in the nation in high school. Named the Los Angeles Times Player of the Year after passing for 3,186 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior, Rosen also was able to achieve a 4.3 GPA.

While at UCLA, he received such awards as Freshman All-American and Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2015. In 2017, He was 2^nd team all Pac-12 and declared to the NFL draft, most considered him as a top 10 NFL draft pick.

During his junior year, Rosen set the school’s record for single-season passing yards. Rosen was declared the next best thing by numerous college football experts, experts such as Hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman and NFL films producer Greg Cosell, so what went wrong?

Can the once big talent get his career back on track?

With great power comes great responsibility. Josh Rosen talked a big game and that has hurt him a lot during his NFL career. When drafted by the Cardinals, Rosen stated in a post draft press conference that ”Nine mistakes were made ahead of me. And I will make sure over the next decade or so that they will know that they made a mistake.”

It backfired pretty quickly as expected. Rosen has played for six NFL teams since 2018. And he’s mainly been a backup since starting his rookie year for the Arizona Cardinals.

Infact, his career stats have been very poor since day one in the NFL. Rosen has thrown only 12 touchdowns yet giving away a astounding 21 interceptions, with an abysmal passer rating of 61.1%.

It’s been a tough ride for Josh so far in the league. Can he change it around in Cleveland? We know he has the talent and arm strength to be an NFL quarterback. But it’s going to take a lot of hard work and motivation throughout training camp. 

With a wide open hole at QB due to the uncertainty of Watson’s suspension and how long it will be, this is possibly the best place for Rosen. It’s time for him to change his career around from bust to comeback story.

Can Josh Rosen become the NFL star quarterback he was destined to be since being drafted 10^th overall back in 2018? We shall find out in 2022.