PHOENIX HAS ROSEN

Cardinal Win — The NFL’s Phoenix-area franchise Arizona Cardinals use the 10th pick of the Draft to replace failing ex-trojan QB Carson Palmer, who just mercifully retired, with Bruin Josh Rosen, in an effort to rise from the ashes and break their 68-year Championship Drought — the longest in all of North American Sports

There are lots of hot tubs in Arizona, and now there’s likely to be one more, as the Arizona Cardinals have selected UCLA’s Josh Rosen in the NFL Draft.  Josh went in the 1st Round, as the 10th overall pick, after, as Josh put it, “nine mistakes.”

Rosen wasn’t happy about falling to the 10th position, but he should be happy.  The first player chosen — also a Quarterback — was Baker Mayfield, who has to play for the Browns now.  Cleveland also had the 4th pick, so Rosen shouldn’t be upset about avoiding Cleveland.  And the only other QB’s picked ahead of Josh went to the East Coast:  The cold weather New York Jets, and the coldest-weather Buffalo Bills, both bad teams for a while now.  Josh is actually quite fortunate, landing in warm-weather Arizona, for a team with plenty of talent, and a team that TRADED UP — from 15 to 10, in order to get the QB they specifically coveted.

The last time Arizona picked a QB with the 10th pick was when they wasted a selection on ex-trojan Matt Leinart, who ended up being one of the biggest busts in NFL history.  But they must have learned their lesson, this time selecting a QB who DIDN’T benefit from being surrounded by ‘roided-out Linemen who gave him insane protection, and juiced-up Receivers who snagged all his errant throws.

The Cardinals finished 8-8 last season — with their star Running Back David Johnson injured for the whole year –and only 3 years ago went 13-3.  The Browns, on the other hand, went 0-16!   The Jets went 5-11, which isn’t as bad, but they are in the same division as the Patriots.  So are the Bills, who went a very respectable 9-7, but that’s still finishing 4 games behind New England.  The Cards finished just 3 games behind the Rams in their division, even without the help of All-Pro Johnson.

Speaking of STARS, Rosen will get to throw to first-ballot Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald.  Sure, Larry may have lost a step after FIFTEEN years in the League, but his hands and pattern-running ability are still first-rate.  And speaking of Hall of Famers, the Cardinals still have Running Back Adrian Peterson on their roster, to spell Johnson.  Rosen also gets a top-notch Offensive Coordinator in Mike McCoy.  So the cupboard is far from bare.  Arizona could have an explosive Offense.  And their new Head Coach, Steve Wilks, has a respected Defensive mind.

That all adds up to mean that Arizona could contend with the Rams and AGING Seahawks for the NFC West Division crown, THIS YEAR.  That division is also home to the improving 49ers.  San Francisco got better late last season, with up and coming QB Jimmy Garoppolo, but may still be a year or two away from snatching a Division Title.

So all Rosen has to do to take over the reins of this promising Arizona team is beat out former Oklahoma star Sam Bradford.  Bradford was traded from Minnesota last year, where he was serviceable, but not outstanding.  He also had some durability issues.  With Cardinal QB Carson Palmer retiring in January, this leaves only Bradford and back-up Mike Glennon standing in the way of a Rosen-led Cardinal resurgence.

Now that the Chicago Cubs finally won a World Series a couple of years ago, the Arizona Cardinals have the longest Championship Drought in all of North American major sports, at 68 years.  Josh Rosen is just the man to end that drought.

Speaking of droughts, it had been about 37 years since UCLA has had TWO players drafted in the FIRST ROUND of the NFL Draft.  That was 1981, when Freeman McNeil went at #3 overall, and Kenny Easley at #4.  That streak was broken yesterday, when Oakland used the 15th pick — the one that Arizona gave up — to make Bruin Offensive Tackle Kolton Miller the newest Raider.  Congratulations to Kolton, who gets to return to his Northern California roots with the Raiders, at least until they move to Las Vegas.  Of course living in Las Vegas while earning NFL money won’t be too shabby either.

And finally, speaking of “not too shabby,” here is the final batch of photos from the UCLA Spring Showcase.  These include some Football shots as well as Spirit Squad shots.  And there will still be more Cheerleader pictorials coming very soon, as I still have yet-unseen shots from Bruin Day and a few other games from last season.