2018 NFL Draft QB stock report – Week 11: Baker Mayfield a first round talent?
By Conor Dorney
Josh Rosen
QB, UCLA
No quarterback in the 2018 class has had as bizarre or tumultuous of a season as UCLA’s Josh Rosen, and things got more bizarre with Rosen’s admission this week that he likely played through most of the Bruins’ first half loss to Washington two weeks ago with a concussion.
Here is Josh Rosen’s response to Brock Huard’s on-air comments in the UCLA-UW game. Rosen said he sustained the concussion on the first drive of the UW game and played through it until coaches noticed something was off pic.twitter.com/wIjzi1yOjZ
— Bruin Report Online (@BruinReport) November 8, 2017
ESPN’s Brock Huard made headlines as a result of his comments on the air during the aforementioned game, calling into question Rosen’s toughness, as he went to the locker room late in the first half with what appeared to be a finger injury. Bruins head coach Jim Mora took exception to Huard’s comments, but things look much worse on Mora’s side of the fence if they knowingly played their star quarterback in a majority of the first half with a concussion.
Rosen subsequently missed the team’s following game against Utah, but is probable to play this week at home against Arizona State. As the Bruins fight to clinch bowl eligibility in their last three games of the regular season, how Rosen plays down the stretch will play a crucial role in his evaluation process heading into the draft.
Truth be told, the brilliance Rosen displayed in the Bruins’ improbable comeback against Texas A&M seems like it was a decade ago and he is just now beginning to crawl out of the slump he found himself in during the middle of this season. His size and ability to throw the ball from the pocket have been on display since he first stepped onto the UCLA campus, but I think there will be a lot of questions for Rosen to answer behind the scenes before an NFL franchise deems him worthy of their top pick.
Next: 2018 NFL Draft: Top 32 Prospects
One has to wonder how Josh Rosen would fare with a bit more program stability than what he’s been faced with so far as a Bruin, but I still think that he could wind up as the top quarterback off the board come next April, particularly if his crosstown rival Sam Darnold opts to stay in school for another year.