Former first rounder Josh Rosen has chance to shake bust label with 49ers

The 49ers add a new face to their QB room in the form of a first rounder

Just less than three years ago, the Arizona Cardinals gave up a couple of day-two picks to trade up and snag quarterback Josh Rosen with their first round pick. Around that same time, the San Francisco 49ers were inking a massive contract extension with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the largest at that time.

Rosen, who was on his third team in as many years after being traded to the Miami Dolphins, then cut, then signing on the practice squad of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, now may be in line to take Garoppolo’s job. As the 49ers seek an answer under-center, and one that was not currently on their roster with all three of their gunslingers struggling, they have signed the former first round pick in Rosen to their active roster with two weeks to go.

With immense talent and untapped potential, can head coach Kyle Shanahan get the most out of the former top-ten pick? Can Rosen use these two weeks and potentially beyond to shake off the bust label currently attached to his name?

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49ers have a new QB1?

Not only has Garoppolo been injury riddled atop of his struggles, but the 49ers and Shanahan have not found any better solution with C.J. Beathard or Nick Mullins starting under-center in 2020. They will likely be a prime candidate to take a new gunslinger early in the 2021 NFL Draft, but they give Rosen the chance to see if still has the arm talent that got him drafted high.

Shanahan’s system is extremely quarterback friendly, proving the struggles at quarterback to be worse than imagined, so Rosen could pick it up in a hurry and see some time on the field over the next two weeks. It is not an ideal chance for Rosen, given the limited time left on the year, but he will look to take advantage of any opportunity.

Rosen is certainly the most physically gifted quarterback now on the roster in San Francisco, he will just hope for the opportunity to prove it.

With nothing to lose, the Niners take a low risk, high reward chance with the signing of Rosen off of Tampa Bay’s practice squad. Can the former UCLA gunslinger and 2018 top-ten pick capitalize? If he does not, the Niners could be in the market for one of the top college quarterbacks this upcoming April.