Kyler, Kliff, and Steve Keim’s Rosen Conundrum

A look at the Kyler Murray vs. Josh Rosen debate, and how it puts GM Steve Keim in the awkward position of admitting 2018 was the ultimate lost season.

On the Monday Morning NFL Podcast, Andy Benoit and Gary Gramling analyzed the Rosen vs. Kyler debate, and why it’s especially complicated for …

GARY: We’re going to start off with a couple Josh Rosen questions because it’s the Josh Rosen time of year, when the trade market will heat up for him. Listener Phil asks, “How has your view of Josh Rosen changed since draft day since last year and what is his market value to the Steelers/Patriots/Chargers/etc. on draft day?” This of course assumes the Cardinals take Kyler Murray first overall, which all signs point to that. Not a certainty, but a probability.

ANDY: Which makes their GM, Steve Keim, look really bad, to be quite frank. Keim gave up significant capital to trade up and take Josh Rosen. It’s been done before, but not like this.

GARY: Let me make this point though. They fired a head coach after one season—

ANDY: —which also reflects poorly on Keim, but keep going.

GARY: They hire Kliff Kingsbury, who is a unique hire to say the least. If you’re going to bring in Kingsbury, you got to get him the quarterback he wants.

ANDY: It’s a poor reflection on Keim, but not because of what he’s doing now. It would be because of what he did last year. He had a horrible season, plus he had a bad DUI off the field. He had the wrong head coach and is backing out on the quarterback he took, so that is the ultimate wasted down year in Arizona. But you should not let that impact how you go about this year, which is why I have said, if they truly are head-over-heels for Kyler Murray, then go ahead and take Kyler. My opinion on Josh Rosen, to answer the mailbag question, is the same as it was a year ago. I think he needs the right situation. I don’t think he’s Andrew Luck or Carson Wentz where he’s good enough to create his own situation around him. I think he’s a timing and rhythm player that needs the right offense around him to succeed. In that right offense, though, I think he can be a tremendous quarterback.

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GARY: Our next question is along similar lines. “If you asked 100 talent evaluators, how many would rather have Murray than Rosen?” The feedback generally is that Rosen graded higher last year than Kyler Murray this year. Of course, stylistically they’re different quarterbacks, it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. You don’t want to go nuts with this, but you hear stories that Rosen is not a great teammate and didn’t fit in that Cardinals locker room well. You can say, Well, maybe that’s going to be a problem forever, but you can also say, He’s 22 years old, the Cardinals locker room is not the same as, say, the Seahawks locker room or Patriots locker room, etc. But I think the general consensus, for Generic Offense X, I think most people like Rosen over Kyler.

ANDY: His game more naturally fits the NFL, so there are going to be more coaches that understand and feel like they know what to do with him than Murray. Murray’s a unique specimen and we have to decide, are we comfortable with him moving around and running the way he does. Right there, half or at least a portion of coaches would say, “No we’re not comfortable with that.” That’s the end of the Murray discussion with them. So you’re right, it’s absolutely not apples to apples. It’s an inconsistent field to try and project who’s going to be good in the NFL and who’s not. The steadiest type of QB is the timing and rhythm pocket passer. There tends to be less wavering with their results. Murray I view more as a boom or bust style guy. We’ve seen it boom (Russell Wilson) and bust (Johnny Manziel). I haven’t really studied Murray, but I think he’s more than just a run-around guy, but running around will be a big part of his game so that has to be heavily considered.

GARY: I’m always wary of somebody getting comped to Russell Wilson, who I think is, mentally and physically, rare. Kyler could be that guy, but it’s tough to say, “This is the next Russell Wilson.” I don’t know if there will be a next Russell Wilson.

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