UCLA Football: Grading the quarterbacks heading into 2017

The UCLA Football team has been lucky over the past five seasons. They’ve been led by a current Green Bay Packer and are now led by a possible top selection in Josh Rosen. But how does this UCLA football depth at QB check out? GJB tells you.

UCLA Football has a storied history of great QBs including Troy Aikman, Tommy Maddox, Brett Hundley and now Josh Rosen. However just because you have a major player at QB doesn’t mean success in the fall is guaranteed. Bruin faithful have found this a constant truth.

If we focus on 2017 we can see that “the Rosen one” is sitting high upon the depth chart and high in the hopes of those wishing to see the Bruins recover after last season’s 4-8 finish. When considering the strength of the QB position and none of the others that may impact it, this unit is is perhaps, based on talent, one of the strongest on the team.

A major positive that seems to be a little under the radar is current offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jedd Fisch. In two years with the Jacksonville Jaguars as the OC, 2013-2014,  in  Fisch was able to coax some magic out of middling starter Chad Henne and then raw rookie Blake Bortles.

Related Story: UCLA Football: Grading the offensive line, position by position

Most recently with the Michigan Wolverines Fisch was able to turn relatively unknown QB Wilton Speight into a guy with some NFL draft buzz.

Without any more delay let Go Joe Bruin dive into and grade the quarterback depth chart as it pertains to the 2017 season.

2017 Grades

Josh Rosen is the undisputed starter on this UCLA Football team and for very good reason. He is one of the better QB prospects I have seen in the past five years. Andrew Luck during his time was an excellent prospect and I put Rosen into that category.

Now before you accuse me of losing my sanity let me explain. The footwork, the arm, the accuracy, the touch and the pocket presence are as textbook as you could ever hope for. Luck was also a textbook player and has proven that in the NFL.

Rosen hasn’t had the best of fortune in college. He’s been forced to learn three different offensive systems in as many years and last year was a sitting duck behind terrible protection. That “protection” led to him getting beat like a drum and eventually having to bow out due to a shoulder injury.

While he can’t boast college football’s strongest arm, Rosen has plus arm strength that allows him to push the ball downfield and hit deep outs on a rope. I cannot stress enough just how talented Rosen is and if he can get any help from the rest of his offense I expect a huge year from him. It goes without saying but Rosen is a grade A QB.

Coming in as the primary backup, Devon Modster gives this UCLA Football team a capable, dynamic option should Rosen succumb to an injury. (I’m knocking on every piece of wood in my house as you read this).

He is much stockier than Rosen and is capable of tucking the ball and running which isn’t something Rosen is asked to do. That doesn’t mean though that Modster is purely a running threat. He has a big time arm to make every throw asked of him but doesn’t have the textbook motion, release or accuracy that Rosen can bring to the table.

I have no concerns about Modster being able to run this offense. Actually all of the roll-outs off of play-action really suits him well. With his mobility opposing defenses will have to respect his ability to tuck it and go which should actually make this offense click even more. Should everything go well this year I don’t expect to see Modster in any capacity except for mop up duty to gain some valuable game experience. Modster gets a B grade from me as the primary backup.

2018 will likely be the first realistic chance to see a new starter. However it is uncertain who it might be. Modster is at the top of the list but will have to hold off freshman Auston Burton, big time 2018 recruit Dorian Thompson-Robinson and the next guy up on our list.

Matt Lynch is kind of personal favorite for me at the quarterback position. I can’t seem to really put my finger on it but he reminds me of current Washington Redskins starter Kirk Cousins. Perhaps its the size, or the fact that he’s behind a much bigger name on the depth chart just as Cousins was when he was drafted.

Lynch is a well built kid listed at six-foot-four and almost 220 pounds. When he came to UCLA as a freshman he had a bit of an elongated delivery but has really cleaned that up. In addition to that motion being cleaned up, Lynch has worked on his feet.

He isn’t the dynamic athlete that Modster is but don’t sleep on him. Lynch will run if there’s a clean lane and has sneaky speed to gain yards quickly. He also fits this new offense really well. Rolling out off of play-action and being presented with half field reads was something Lynch did plenty of in high school. I won’t pretend that I’m not secretly pulling for Lynch to find a way to win the starting job in 2018. I’m giving Lynch a B grade as well.

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Overall grade

As a total unit the quarterbacks earn themselves a solid B+.

For this piece I won’t be giving grades to Auston Burton purely because there is no way he doesn’t red-shirt this year nor will DTR get a grade from me while he’s still in high school. However come 2018 when we revisit this topic I’ll be sure to give them similar breakdowns.