After an off-season of not getting any respect, UCLA Football’s Josh Rosen is turning heads with his talent and production, though Bruin fans know it has been there all along.
After injuring his shoulder after only six games, the college football world turned their backs on Josh Rosen last season. Unable to help the UCLA Football team, Rosen had to sit back and watch the Bruins fall into oblivion as they went 4-8.
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The combination of injury and team record had defined Rosen by many college football critics, which had nothing to do with his actual talent,
With other quarterbacks getting national attention, Rosen was an afterthought. He was looked over for players on teams that had more success. Yes, it is true, UCLA could not have hung with most teams last season, but there have been changes since then and now it seems that things are falling into place for Rosen, who is now properly putting his skills on display.
Rosen caught the eye of many critics his freshman year, so much that his name was in the conversation for the Heisman at the start of 2016. Six games later, he was done for the season. So where did all the love go? Just because his team was suffering does not mean that his talent, drive and determination went away.
| Year | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions | Comp. % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,915 | 10 | 5 | 59.3 |
| 2017 | 820 | 9 | 0 | 68.7 |
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In 2016 he played six games. In 2017, he has so far played in only two and you can tell that Rosen is something special. Just look at his numbers. They looking better in comparison to what he was doing a year ago. The number that really sticks out to me is the number of touchdowns. In just two games, he has thrown 9, one short of last season where it took him six games for 10.
In terms of passing yards, he is almost halfway to his total from last season. That is likely aided by the fact that UCLA’s overall receiving game has improved. 68.7% is such a dramatic improvement for Rosen and the Bruins, and yet does not tell the entire story. Against Texas A&M, he did not have horrible numbers, but against Hawaii his completion percentage was near perfect.
Against the Rainbow Warriors, Rosen completed 22 out of 24 passes for 91.7%. You read that correctly. Ninety. One. Point. Seven. Percent.
And now with UCLA starting the season 2-0, eyes are starting to shift back to #3 and many critics that overlooked Rosen and the Bruins are starting to re-evaluate their stance.
5 TDs - 3 incompletions = Heisman for Josh Rosen? #Math pic.twitter.com/TEfHlac95m
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) September 10, 2017
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Still, a tougher road lies ahead. Next week UCLA is at Memphis, then at Stanford. In the next two weeks we will see exactly what the Chosen One can do. Texas A&M is not looking like a powerhouse and Hawaii is Hawaii. If Rosen makes the Bruins competitive in the next two weeks, you can guarantee there will be a lot more college football analysts turning their eyes towards Westwood.