Criticism of Rosen has been lazy
Josh Rosen, still sweaty from practice, was getting peppered with questions about what he might do with a chance to play with the starters against New Orleans on Friday.
His back was against a wall. Literally. And at least a dozen people, most of whom were old enough to be his parents, formed a half circle around him, arms outstretched, holding cameras, boom mics and audio recorders. Inching closer. Staring expectantly.
In any other circumstance, this would have been unconscionable. Imagine if somebody did this to you right after you got off work. Or it happened to your kid. Or your brother. But as a guy who wants to be an NFL quarterback, it’s what Josh Rosen signed up for.
What he didn’t sign up for was a driveby renewal of an intellectually lazy criticism from what’s supposed to be one of the most respected sports media outlets in the nation, that his “bad body language” shows that he’s that he’s too smart, too multifaceted, too opinionated, too privileged, too “1 percent” to occupy a space on an NFL roster.
But there it was all over the internet to dominate the Phoenix sports news cycle:
“When Rosen tossed up a bad ball or failed in a third-down scenario, he was visibly upset, taking big swings at nothing with a cleated foot and generally looking pretty miserable.”
Flowery language and useless adjectives aside, what does this observation add to a conversation that — as the website SB Nation fittingly pointed out — already includes calling him “spoiled, and entitled, and not made for pro football life”?
It’s not my job to defend Josh Rosen, but how about we get off Josh Rosen?
The publication that made or repeated the subjective criticisms, Sports Illustrated, should be better than this, and to expand on the counterargument presented in SB Nation, none of this has anything to do with whether Rosen can complete a pass in the NFL.
Evaluating QBs
Rosen is in the earliest stages of a high-profile, high-pressure career where he’ll be judged for success or failure despite those outcomes being wildly dependent on factors outside of his control. And he knows it.
“You can’t really narrow it down to one thing,” he said, considering how to measure the effectiveness of a quarterback’s play.
“You can say ‘wins and losses,’ but a quarterback can only handle so much. You can say ‘completion percentage,’ but where the ball’s completed (matters) … You can say all kinds of stuff. I don’t think there really is an answer to that. And anyone that, I think, tries to give you an answer, I don’t think they’re 100 percent correct.”
He’s 100 percent correct. Evaluating quarterback play doesn’t come down to a simple formula.
“You have to complete the ball,” he said. “You’ve gotta win games. You have to convert on third downs. If someone threw for 150 yards vs. 300, those 150 could have been very valuable. Stats mean something, but you can’t get caught up in them. It’s a big conglomeration of a lot of different things that make a quarterback good.”
Exactly. Good quarterback play is like so many other things that are hard to define: You know it when you see it.
Rosen’s success or failure depends largely on his offensive line, his coordinator, his receivers – even his opposition.
Peyton, Eli and Tom Brady
And although fans are hungry for every scrap of information there is about Rosen, basing an opinion or even raising questions off his body language in one practice session is worthless at best, dangerous at worst.
Is it a stretch to consider it the same as calling a man “assertive” and a woman “bossy” based off the same behavior? Is it any different from characterizing an introverted white player as “the strong, silent type” and a quiet minority as “aloof and standoffish”?
If Rosen shows emotion, it could be taken as a sign of weakness. If he doesn’t, it could be interpreted as disinterest.
Aside from that, what’s “good” body language look like? Peyton Manning? Eli Manning? Tom Brady?
What’s the ideal socio-economic background for a quarterback? Did Peyton or Eli Manning come from hardscrabble environments? Did Brady?
They’ve only combined for 12 appearances in the last 17 Super Bowls.
So, let’s give Josh Rosen a chance to do that in live action, with a functioning offensive line and legitimate weapons at skill positions.