UCLA Fotoball quarterback Josh Rosen haas been receiving a lot of attention heading into the 2016 season and could possibly compete for the Heisman Trophy. Here are three reasons why…
Experience
Josh Rosen had a fantastic true freshman season. Even though the UCLA Football team took a step back going 8-5 after back-to-back 10-win seasons, Rosen did a fantastic job leading the Bruins with confidence and raw talent.
In his first college game against Virginia, Rosen connected on 28 of his 35 passes on his way to 351 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. In that game, he looked like anything but a freshman.
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It got even better as the season went on as he broke both freshman and long-standing UCLA passing records en route to 3,669 passing yards with 23 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns. Despite a two-game losing streak to end the season, Rosen still had confidence which is a good sign for UCLA Football fans going into 2016.
The Bruins have a treacherous schedule to navigate through this upcoming season, but with a year under his belt, the “Chosen One” knows exactly what he has to do to not only elevate the game of the offense, but to put himself in the best possible position to be successful.
He had eye-opening games against BYU, Stanford and USC last season and just like a true competitor he does not quit. Even in the Bruin’s losses, Rosen did not give up and kept fighting until the end. That mentality is something the UCLA Football team needs to pull them out of sticky situations and fight, fight, fight until the clock hits 0:00.
Next: More Tools
More Tools At His Disposal
Even though an 8-5 record is not horrible (some teams would kill for that mark), it was a set back for the UCLA Football team. Towards the end of last season, the offense was very predictable with former Offensive Coordinator Noel Mazzone at the helm.
The Bruins seemed to be stuck with the same five plays that opposing defenses eventually got wise to. After the season, Mazzone bolted for Texas A&M (UCLA’s first opponent of 2016) and Head Coach Jim Mora promoted Running Backs Coach Kennedy Polamalu to OC. With that came a dedication to improving the offense with more power.
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This year, the Bruins will be using more power sets that will utilize fullbacks, tight ends and even on-field huddles. Not only will this give Rosen more tools to be successful, it will help open up the offense he is already use to.
Though UCLA will be using more power, they will not fully go the way of a pro style offense. The Bruins used the spread offense last season which will continue in 2016. This past spring, the Bruins still used 4-receiver sets in the passing game, showing that they still want to use Rosen’s arm strength and accuracy to beat their opponents through the air.
Along with that, Rosen will also have a powerful running game to help him as the Bruin’s three-headed monster of Soso Jamabo, Nate Starks and Bolu Olorunfunmi should each have a good year. Honestly, it could be a 4-headed monster if you including Rosen as a runner, which we did not see a lot of last season.
Next: Determination
Determination
2015 was a good year, but it was not great. The goal for the UCLA Football team and Rosen is to be great. Throughout high school, all Rosen knew how to do was win and that was his mentality coming to Westwood.
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The competition was a lot tougher in college, but with proper coaching, guidance and development, Rosen was able to take control of this team and make it his own. As stated before, 8-5 is not a bad record, but it is something no Bruin wanted. The goals here are a South Division title and a Pac-12 Championship and UCLA has been on the cusp of that every year Mora has been in Westwood.
UCLA has to figure out how to make that jump from a good team to a great team and Rosen is just the kind of player to help them in that quest.
The Bruins have a few things they have to overcome like beating Texas A&M and BYU on the road in non-conference play, finally beating Stanford and shutting down USC at the end of the season. If Rosen can do this while also handling the rest of the teams on the schedule, then he will not only elevate the Bruins, but his status as a big time college quarterback.
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If Rosen does get UCLA back to the Pac-12 Championship Game, then there is no reason why he should not just be considered a Heisman contender, but a Heisman winner. Go Bruins! Go Rosen!