UCLA Football: Four Bruins named to 2017 all PAC-12 team

The 2017 all PAC-12 teams were announced today as voted upon by PAC-12 football coaches. Four UCLA Football Bruins were named and while the names don’t really surprise you, their placement on either the first or second team likely will.

It has been a year of accolades for the UCLA Football team. They’ve had a number of players put on award watchlists, had members of the team win both offensive and defensive players of the week in the PAC-12 and now has had four current Bruins named to the 2017 all PAC-12 teams.

Let’s see who made the list.

UCLA Football LB Kenny Young made the first team defense as a linebacker. There’s no shocker there. Young was second on the defense with 90 total tackles and showed his ability to play sideline to sideline. He was certainly in the conversation to be named as one of the conference’s best LBs and and it would be very difficult to argue this

Kolton Miller and Jaleel Wadood were named second team all PAC-12. Miller had an up and down season and while his pass protection improved he had some major lapses that were responsible for big hits against Bruin QB Josh Rosen. Second team all PAC-12 might a little rich for my blood but his improvement over the season likely has a lot to do with his selection.

Wadood has been a mainstay on the PAC-12 teams since his sophomore year due to his willingness to tackle anything that moves. While he’s not a perfect player by any stretch of the imagination and likely to miss a big tackle as he is to make a big one, Wadood has an infectious energy that the defensive backfield has feasted on for the past four years. He’s going to have to prove plenty to NFL scouts this off-season with his limited size but it’s the intangibles that will give him a fighting chance.

So the first three are explainable right? I mean the results of the voting have some questionable names in questionable positions but I can’t find major fault in those three UCLA Football selections. But here’s where things get a little out of hand.

Josh Rosen made the PAC-12 teams and after his stellar season in which he bounced back from a shoulder injury that cost him the second half of 2016, learned his third offense in three years and executed it perfectly then out dueled his crosstown counterpart head to head despite losing, that he would have proven to be the top QB in the conference.

Instead it was that crosstown rival that ended up taking the top slot. Sam Darnold was named all PAC-12 first team QB and Rosen second team. So let’s first take a look at some stats. Darnold threw for 3787 yards, 26 scores and 12 INTs. Rosen threw for 3717 yards, 26 TDs and 10 INTs. So far you’d basically call that a wash if not a victory for Rosen. I’d gladly give up 70 more yards through the air for two fewer interceptions.

This was voted upon by PAC-12 coaches with the criteria that they select the best QB in the PAC-12 with how they perform in conference games. Seems simple enough. Darnold went 21-7 in terms of TD-INT. Rosen, 13-8. Darnold threw for 2872 yards in ten PAC-12 contests while Rosen had 2434 in seven and half. Remember he was knocked out of the Washington game and missed the next game against Utah. I think it’s safe to say if he had played the second half against the Huskies and was able to go against Utah that their yardage totals would be much closer.

Here’s the kicker though. Despite all of the advantages Darnold enjoys at USC, deeper skill positions and strong running game that allows for greater opportunities through the air, he actually had a much smaller statistical impact on his team.

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Rosen, in PAC-12 contests, accounted for almost 70 percent of his team’s offense. 66.7 percent to be exact. He’s essentially the entire offense. In simpler terms, he carried nearly the entire weight of games on his shoulders. Even with Darnold’s ability to run accounted for in his yardage totals and with two more games to produce in, Darnold accounted for under 60%.

It’s hard to look at those numbers and not come away thinking, “Rosen did more with less”. It’s difficult to imagine that’s not a qualification for best QB in the conference.