Josh Rosen and Christian Kirk’s connection started years ago. Now it’s the Cardinals’ future

TEMPE, Arizona — Just a few minutes into Josh Rosen’s first practice in a Cardinals uniform, he faked a handoff and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Christian Kirk.

There was nothing inherently special about the play. Neither player was in pads, nobody was going full speed, and the only defense on the field was a few coaches in T-shirts who stayed in place.

But it still felt like a significant moment.

It was the first time Rosen connected with Kirk as a teammate.

Friday marked the first time the top two picks of the Arizona Cardinals in the 2018 NFL Draft practiced together. And the connection is one the Cardinals hope will blossom in the future, too.

Rosen and Kirk are already plenty familiar with each other.

“We’ve known each other for a while, so it’s pretty cool,” Rosen said. “It’s crazy how paths cross. I tried to get him to UCLA and we ended up playing each other, but now we’re on the same team. It’s funny how things happen.”

Those paths first intersected in March 2014 when Rosen and Kirk — a pair of five-star recruits still in their junior years of high school — were two of the standouts at a Nike Football Training Camp in Los Angeles. When the Cardinals drafted Kirk in April, Rosen shared a throwback picture from the time he met his new teammate for the first time.

Rosen committed to UCLA later that month, while Kirk waited until December to make his commitment to Texas A&M. And while they didn’t wind up college teammates, their many meetings in 2014 set the foundation for a relationship four years later.

“We were really close during the recruiting process when I was taking visits to UCLA,” Kirk said. “During that time, I would go to his house out in California and we were pretty close. We’re roommates here at the hotel and we’re just picking up where we left off.”

“We’re hoping we can get that connection going early and often,” Cardinals coach Steve Wilks said.

But the likely scenario is Kirk will see playing time right away as a rookie, while Rosen will probably sit behind Sam Bradford on the depth chart. At least, at the beginning of the season.

The former Rams, Eagles, and Vikings quarterback has sustained several significant injuries over the course of his football career, so Rosen taking over as a rookie isn’t out of the question. It may not take much time before the team’s two rookies are paired up in the regular season.

And if both turn into the players the Cardinals believe they can be, it’ll be welcomed stability for Rosen and Kirk.

Rosen’s long list of underwhelming receivers at UCLA struggled with drops, and the quarterback spent the months prior to the 2018 NFL Draft battling a perception that he’s spoiled and entitled.

His unique personality isn’t for everybody and could be the reason Rosen was the fourth quarterback off the board in April — behind Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and Josh Allen.

Kirk also dealt with lackluster teammates in college with six different quarterbacks starting for Texas A&M in his three seasons with the team. He also joined the Cardinals with a little off-field baggage after a March arrest for disorderly conduct that the team knew about.

But Kirk said his history of cycling through passers only helped prepare him for the challenge of building a new relationship.

“It just kind of helps me get used to another new quarterback,” Kirk said. “I just know how to approach it and [I] just spend extra time just knowing what he’s comfortable with.

“I already had a sense of what it’s like catching from [Rosen]. We already had that type of chemistry. I know that he’s a really accurate passer and always puts the ball where it needs to be. So nothing new, really.”

That familiarity made for a smooth first weekend for the new Cardinals teammates.

Friday wasn’t so much the beginning of a connection between Rosen and Kirk, but the restart of one that began years ago. And the Cardinals hope it’s a pairing that leads to years of success.