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When the Arizona Cardinals drafted Josh Rosen with the 10th overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, fans were excited.
One of the reasons fans were excited, outside of the fact that the Cardinals finally drafted a quarterback of the future, was the fact that Rosen was lauded as the most pro ready of the group of five quarterbacks who would be drafted in the first round.
The Cardinals had their man and now, through two preseason games, it looks like Rosen is on his way towards being the quarterback they envisioned on draft night.
After two games, three for Lamar Jackson, the first round rookies have had a large range of play, both good and bad, from all five.
Yet, one thing that Rosen has done that only Josh Allen has met is make big time NFL throws, or as Pro Football Focus labels them, “Big Time Throws”.
Number of Big Time Throws (our toughest, highest graded passes) by 1st round rookie QBs in the preseason:
— PFF ARZ Cardinals (@PFF_Cardinals) August 21, 2018
Josh Rosen - 3
Josh Allen - 3
Baker Mayfield - 1
Lamar Jackson - 1
Sam Darnold - 0
What’s a BTT you ask, here is what PFF describes as a BTT:
In its simplest terms, a big-time throw is on the highest end of both difficulty and value. While the value is easy to see statistically, the difficulty has more to do with passes that have a lower completion percentage the further the ball is thrown down the field. Therefore, the big-time throw is best described as a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window.
That’s Rosen though, he has always been a guy, much like Carson Palmer and Kurt Warner, who believes in his ability to make a tight window, big play throw.
The difference between believing you can and being able to consistently do so though is what makes Rosen so good.
He is one of the more aggressive quarterbacks coming out and through two games, it shows in this one little stat.