UCLA Football’s Josh Rosen has all the makings of a Heisman winning quarterback. However, his name is barely a whisper in the conversation. Let’s look at what it takes to be named the best player in college football.
Josh Rosen is arguably the most pro-ready quarterback in the NCAA, and it would come as no surprise to hear his name called first or second overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. In the Heisman conversation, however, UCLA Football‘s junior QB has not been looked on so favorably in the young season.
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ESPN’s experts have him at the bottom of the Heisman watch list, with one single fifth place vote keeping him on the board. This begs the question, if the best quarterback prospect is barely in the conversation for top player in the country, what does one have to do to win the Heisman?
The Stats
When it comes to slinging the ball, there are few in the NCAA who can match Rosen. He leads college football in passing yards with 2,135, and in passing touchdowns with 17. Slot receiver Darren Andrews has found the end zone more than any other UCLA receiver with seven scores, but Rosen has done a good job of spreading the ball around. Seven different receivers have caught a touchdown for the Bruins, with four catching two or more.
Rosen does has room for improvement as a passer. He still tries to make the big play even when circumstances don’t allow for it. As a result, he has thrown five interceptions this year. The top quarterback on the Heisman Watch List, Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma, has yet to throw a single interception all season.
Being able to run as well as pass seems to be a factor Heisman voters take into great consideration. Aside from Jameis Winston in 2013, every quarterback that won the Heisman since 2010 had rushed for 10 or more touchdowns.
Rosen, so far in, 2017: Passing yards – 2,135 (1st in NCAA), Touchdowns – 17 (1st in NCAA)
For a pure-pocket passer to take the trophy away from a quarterback that can put up double digit touchdowns through the air and ground, his team has to have an exceptional season. Winston only rushed for four touchdowns in his Heisman year, but Florida State went undefeated, and beat Auburn 34-31 in the Vizio BCS National Championship.
The Impact
All the flashiest stats in the world don’t mean a thing if the team isn’t winning. Rosen can put up 40 touchdowns, but if the Bruins miss a bowl game, then there is no way he remains a Heisman hopeful.
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Winston and Cam Newton both led their teams to the promise land in their Heisman years, while Marcus Mariota and the Oregon Ducks came oh so close, losing 42-20 against Ohio State in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship.
UCLA has seen a bowl game just once in Rosen’s first two seasons, a 37-29 loss to Nebraska in the Foster Farms Bowl. He only played six games in 2016 and went 3-3 in that time. Although the overall record isn’t eye-popping, Rosen can’t be blamed for the 4-8 record the Bruins finished with.
Their start so far this season has been a bit shaky. UCLA is 3-2, but losses to Memphis and Stanford are two blemishes that won’t be forgotten unless the Bruins collect a signature win or two. Rosen can go a long way in helping his Heisman chances by putting up big numbers against Washington and USC, and leaving those matches with a win.
The Narrative
The Heisman is a media-voted award, and there is nothing the media loves more than a good story. Cam Newton joined Auburn after a troubled past with Florida, and led his new team to a National Championship. Mariota was the sweet Hawaiian kid that turned Oregon into a perennial favorite to win it all in his time with the school.
Rosen helped his case early on, orchestrating a 27-point fourth quarter comeback in week one against Texas A&M. He had 292 yards and four touchdown passes in the final frame, highlighted by a fake spike that turned into a Jordan Lasley touchdown.
The excitement of that moment seems distant now, with the aforementioned losses bringing Bruins fans back to earth. Two losses don’t necessarily exclude UCLA from the College Football Playoffs, but the amount of undefeated and one-loss teams ahead of them makes it unlikely.
This is where the signature wins come into play. Rosen leading his team to victories over the likes of SC, Washington, and Utah en route to the most unlikely playoff berth in this tournament’s young history, would make him a virtual lock for the Heisman. This sequence of events would be more at home in Friday Night Lights than in reality. So, the odds of Rosen pulling off this fantastical football finish are slim.
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If Rosen can’t overcome all of the obstacles ahead of him to become UCLA’s second Heisman winner since quarterback Gary Began in 1967, it is not a knock on his talent level. Winning the Heisman is a difficult feat to accomplish when factors that the candidate only has so much control over like marketability and overall team record, are taken into account. For the time being, let’s just enjoy Rosen for being the fearless, gunslinging quarterback he is, and worry about the Heisman when the season comes closer to its conclusion.