Posted February 23, 2018 at 10:09 AM | Updated February 23, 2018 at 10:10 AM
Josh Rosen
Associated Press photos
By Matthew Fairburn | mfairburn@nyup.com
The critique of Josh Rosen began before he even threw a pass for UCLA.
After attending Trent Dilfer's Elite 11 Camp for the top high-school quarterbacks in the country, questions already swirled about Rosen's personality.
"He's uniquely gifted," Dilfer said in a documentary about the event. "And we don't always appreciate unique traits.
"He's off the charts smart. He pissed me off like five times today. Purposely would ask a question to challenge me but to also show how smart he is."
Dilfer wanted Rosen to buy into the coaching. Some viewed that as immaturity or entitlement. Rosen is smart and knows it. Before the 2017 season, Rosen made a comment about how school and football don't go together. In the NFL, coaches often like players to toe the line and not make waves. Rosen has proven to be a wave maker.
Maybe that personality won't mesh with every NFL team, but his on-field talent should. Here's a breakdown of Rosen's game.
Mechanics
As opposed to USC's Sam Darnold, who struggles with footwork and throwing mechanics, Rosen shines with his fundamentals. He's smooth in his drop-backs, having played under center often a UCLA. He's also extremely balanced when throwing the football and has an efficient motion. That allows him to maximize velocity and accuracy to all areas of the field. Rarely does a quarterback have as much mechanical polish as Rosen does at age 21.
Arm strength
Rosen doesn't have the strongest arm in this draft class. That honor belongs to either Wyoming's Josh Allen or Louisville's Lamar Jackson. Rosen isn't far behind, though, and his mechanics help him consistently control that velocity and deliver an accurate ball to all areas of the field. His ability to stay accurate on passes that travel between 50 and 60 yards in the air makes his arm strength more valuable than that of less accurate passers like Allen and Jackson.
Deep accuracy
As mentioned above, Rosen is a player who can not only throw with velocity but also deliver an accurate deep pass. There are numerous examples in the above video where Rosen is able to hit receivers in stride 40-plus yards down the field. That's the type of trait the best NFL quarterbacks have. It's also something that separates Rosen from the pack in this quarterback class. Of draft-eligible quarterbacks, Rosen had the lowest percentage of uncatchable passes beyond 15 yards. Just 17 percent of his throws that traveled that far in the air were uncatchable, according to @CFBFilmRoom
Injuries
It's tough to talk about Rosen without mentioning the list of injuries he accumulated at UCLA. Rosen has sustained multiple concussions and also injured his shoulder in 2016. That's quite a bit of wear and tear for a quarterback to have entering the NFL. It's one of the main negatives to which critics point.
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