Josh Rosen was once seen as a potential future star in the NFL.
The Arizona Cardinals drafted him No. 10 overall in 2018 and the rest is a short, sad history.
Rosen is now with the San Francisco 49ers, which marks his fourth NFL team since 2018.
Yet he is not there to start, but rather fight for the third-string job.
Even that is proving to be difficult and one bad pass Saturday night was a bad sign for his future in town.
Textbook interception by Armani Watts 🙌
📺: #KCvsSF on KSHB pic.twitter.com/nyPcAR3lEZ
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) August 15, 2021
Someone messed up the communication here and the result was Rosen throwing a perfect strike to a Kansas City Chiefs defender.
Competition At The Bottom
Rosen is currently battling with Nate Sudfeld for the third quarterback spot on the 49ers depth chart.
Kyle Shanahan clearly wanted to give Rosen a fair shot and did Saturday, as Sudfeld did not even see the field.
Rosen got time following Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance and had a chance to just look competent.
His final line was 10/15 for 93 yards and the interception.
So while he was not terrible, the bad throw near the end zone could doom his chances of just sticking on the roster.
Even his own head coach seems to be losing the faith.
Shanahan says that Josh Rosen started camp well “but has taken a couple steps back” as of late. Obviously a negative review of the QB, the first one on the record from Shanahan.
I’d firmly peg Nate Sudfeld into the QB3 spot right now #49ers
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 8, 2021
At this point Sudfeld may just be able to practice well and take that third spot from Rosen.
This spot on the roster is not one the front office is going to be too concerned about, but Sudfeld is the veteran of the two.
Having him around could prove to be more valuable compared to someone like Rosen who can’t seem to stick anywhere.
An Ongoing Journey
Rosen got an awful deal with the Cardinals.
He was cut loose after a year and traded to the Miami Dolphins.
One year later, Miami drafted Tua Tagovailoa and Rosen was out of a starting chance again.
He then spent time on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad before the 49ers signed him away last December.
The crazy thing is that Rosen is still only 24 years old.
This is a young player who has dealt with a career of adversity in only three years.
He should continue to get chances around the league, at least in a practice squad capacity.
Scouts seemed to love him coming out of school and it is still fair to say he has never gotten a proper opportunity to start.
If a starter throws a bad pick in the preseason, it can be looked past.
But if someone competing for a final roster spot does so, it could be the end of the road.
That is likely the case for Rosen, especially given Shanahan’s negative comments about the quarterback.
NEXT: Trey Lance Built Up Starting Case With One Throw