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College Football Week 3: NFL Draft big board rankings

By Nathaniel Reeves

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: Sam Darnold #14 of the USC Trojans scrambles with the football during the first half against the Stanford Cardinal at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 9, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: Sam Darnold #14 of the USC Trojans scrambles with the football during the first half against the Stanford Cardinal at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 9, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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PASADENA, CA – SEPTEMBER 09: Josh Rosen #3 of the UCLA Bruins sets to pass in the fourth quarter of the game against the Hawaii Warriors at the Rose Bowl on September 9, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA – SEPTEMBER 09: Josh Rosen #3 of the UCLA Bruins sets to pass in the fourth quarter of the game against the Hawaii Warriors at the Rose Bowl on September 9, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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Josh Rosen

QB, UCLA

With his second straight terrific game to open the season, Rosen is quickly easing fears about his middling 2016 performance and remains near the top of the big board.

Rosen set a new career high with five touchdown passes to lead UCLA’s 56-23 victory over Hawaii. The junior now has 829 yards and nine touchdowns to no interceptions through two games, and helped the Bruins erase a 34-point deficit in the epic opener against Texas A&M.

After arriving at UCLA as a five-star pro-style quarterback in 2015, Rosen instantly generated a ton of hype as a potential future No. 1 overall pick. Through his first two years, Rosen put up middling production with just shy of a 60 percent completion percentage, nearly 5,700 passing yards and a 33:16 TD:INT ratio, although injuries and lack of teammate support certainly didn’t help.

Scouts still love Rosen’s next-level skill set, and his leadership was on full display display during the epic comeback against Texas A&M. Rosen will need by far his best college season yet to go first overall, but it would be a major surprise if he wasn’t among the first three quarterbacks taken at this point.

Even if those huge numbers don’t hold up for the entire year, some team in need of a quarterback is going to dream on Rosen’s ultra-quick release and polished footwork . The only thing that might raise a few red flags is last year’s high interception rate, but Rosen should only get better with experience.

Rosen will face his first hostile environment of 2017 when the Bruins travel to Memphis on Saturday afternoon.

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