'There were 9 mistakes in front of me' - Josh Rosen wasn't happy after falling in the NFL Draft
- Josh Rosen was projected by some as a top-four pick in the NFL Draft but wound up falling to the Cardinals with the 10th pick of the first round on Thursday night.
- After being selected, Rosen made clear that he was angry with falling so far, saying, "There were nine mistakes ahead of me."
- Rosen still landed in a good spot in Arizona and said he would be fighting for the starting job right out of the gate, despite the team recently moving to acquire Sam Bradford.
UCLA's Josh Rosen was the 10th pick of the 2018 NFL Draft on Thursday night, with the Arizona Cardinals trading up for the right to take the highly-touted quarterback.
But while Rosen was still one of the top ten players off the board, many expected him to go earlier, including himself, and he reportedly wasn't too pleased with his name falling down the list. "There were nine mistakes ahead of me," Rosen said.
He continued, per ESPN:
"I thought I should've been picked at 1, 2 or 3," Rosen said. "I dropped, and I was pissed. I was really, really angry. I wasn't really showing it. I was trying to keep calm, cool, composed. But I thought I was going to get picked, and I thought I was going to have to put on a face and try and fake happiness. But for some reason, right when I got that call, that's not what happened. I got really happy and really motivated.
"All I wanted to do was basically get on a plane right then and go straight to Arizona and start working. It was definitely a surprise when I got that phone call in terms of the emotions I was feeling. But I think everything happens for a reason."
The Cardinals are likely happy with the value they got in Rosen with the 10th pick in the draft, and for Rosen's sake, Arizona is probably a better landing spot than some of the destinations of other quarterbacks taken in the first round. But his disappointment is understandable, and will likely be a part of his narrative for years to come as the young quarterback begins to face off against teams that passed over him.
One reason for Rosen's disappointment might be that the Cardinals already appear to have a starting quarterback, having just signed Sam Bradford to a two-year deal. Rosen said he would respect the team's decision, but wouldn't shy away from fighting for the starting job right out of the gate.
"I'm not going to come in and be an a-hole and think that my s--- don't stink. Sorry to say that," Rosen said. "I understand the situation. I'm going to come in, and I'm going to be respectful. Sam Bradford and Mike Glennon are both two amazing quarterbacks.
"But we're all professionals, and we're going to compete our butts off. Regardless of who the starter is, we're all going to support that person."
Rosen was notably outspoken in his years in college, and from the looks of it, he has no plans of curbing that tendency now that he's in the NFL.
More NFL Draft coverage:
- The biggest NFL Draft busts of the last 15 years
- NFL insider Adam Schefter floats wild theory that an NFL team sabotaged Josh Allen with release of insensitive tweets for their gain
- Roger Goodell still got booed at the NFL Draft despite taking measures to avoid the reaction
- WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The last 22 QBs taken in the first round of the NFL Draft and how this year's crop compares
- Two of the NFL's most promising teams have one big factor in common - and it shows why so many teams are scrambling to find their franchise quarterback in the 2018 NFL Draft