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Broncos Film Room: Should you be hoping Josh Rosen drops to Denver?

Andre Simone Avatar
April 11, 2018

With the free agency acquisitions slowing down and the 2018 NFL Draft now only a few weeks away, we’re getting into a new film series, analyzing the Denver Broncos top targets with their fifth pick.

As far as quarterbacks go, we already broke down Baker Mayfield before seeing him at the Senior Bowl, and have scouted Josh Allen countless times, while also getting a live look at Sam Darnold earlier in 2017. Heck, we even scouted Luke Falk in one of the biggest games of his career and saw Kyle Lauletta plenty down in Mobile.

UCLA’s Josh Rosen, on the other hand, was injured last time we had a chance to see his Bruins live back in 2016, so it seemed like a great time to start with him.

The star NCAA quarterback who was second in the country in passing yards per game has been a household name since his freshman season, where he was seemingly destined to go first overall. A turbulent two years later, and he’s still a nearly a guarantee to go in the top five, but not the top dog anymore. Here’s what we found when digging into his tape.

STRENGTHS

There isn’t another quarterback in this class that’s more pro-ready than Rosen. It’s impossible to miss his on-field maturity that’s been evident since he burst onto the scene as a freshman. His polish is beyond his years. He can work off of his secondary reads, has a fairly advanced IQ and uses good eye manipulation to mess with opposing safeties. Rosen shows excellent patience scanning the field and delivers on-time passes. Everything he does is in control; he already looks like a pro when he’s on.

It all starts with his lower-body mechanics, as his footwork is quite advanced and really promising. The way in which he maneuvers the pocket is very refined, he always keeps his eyes forward and more importantly, his arm is in sync with his lower half.

The UCLA phenom is a decent scrambler, navigates the pocket well, and can handle pressure due to his mechanics and poise.

Rosen is already more accustomed to pro concepts than most QBs in the class, and just about any prospect at the position that’s come out since Jameis Winston or Andrew Luck. All these different factors make him a pretty safe pick based on what he’s done on the field.

He doesn’t just look the part, though, he’s very accurate as well. In particular, his ball placement and ability to lead receivers is really encouraging; he puts his targets in position to get yards after the catch regularly.

Rosen shows accuracy to all sides of the field, and he’s unafraid to squeeze balls into tight windows where he makes tough completions look easy. Tight-window throws are a huge part of a QBs evaluation, and he’s regularly shown the goods to complete high-level NFL passes.

Because of this, the young QB has the accuracy to carve up even NFL-level defenses; he just needs to be consistent. He’d be perfect for the modern game, as he can pick apart defenses with accuracy on short to intermediate areas and play in rhythm. He’s also fairly consistent with his ball placement thanks to his repeatable mechanics and poise. To boot, Rosen also demonstrates good touch, another area in which he’s amongst the best in the draft.

While he’s no Josh Allen, the UCLA product possesses ample arm strength to succeed in the NFL and had his fair share of success on deep balls during his three years at UCLA. He can also zip passes over the middle, raising the RPMs when needed.

He also started mastering the back-shoulder throw with regularity and could be unstoppable with those type of passes when combined with everything else he brings to the table.

In addition to Rosen’s poise in the pocket, he’s masterful in selling play action fakes, an area in which he’s done some of his best work. Because of this, he’d be a terrific fit in Bill Musgrave’s offense and should appeal a whole lot to John Elway, Gary Kubiak, and Co.

He’s completely comfortable under center when executing play action or simply as a standard pocket passer, and does a nice job setting his feet and letting it fly with his compact, quick and smooth delivery.

Beyond all the technical stuff, the former high-school phenom has made a few nice comebacks and led his team back into games in the fourth quarter. He’s shown the ability to be clutch, isn’t afraid of the big moment and relishes having the offense ride on his shoulders.

WEAKNESSES

While he extremely polished and lacks glaring defects compared to most QB prospects, Rosen isn’t perfect. His biggest red flag is without a doubt his injury history, as he took lots of hits in his college career due to a poor line and little help from his run game.

Rosen was sidelined for a large portion of his sophomore year with an injury to his throwing shoulder, and more concerning, had to be held out of a couple games at the end of last year with at least one concussion. His medical evaluations will weigh heavily on where he’s taken and what teams are willing to pull the trigger on him with a top 10 pick.

On the field, he’s a bit turnover prone and can be a risky decision maker at times. The Pac-12 standout has a gunslinger’s mentality and will need to learn when to throw a ball away without forcing passes.

In a disastrous offense at UCLA, he got into bad habits having to shoulder the load of the attack and will need to get out of those poor tendencies to succeed in the NFL. He’s been inconsistent at times the last two years and in some ways is still living off of his freshman tape.

His footwork can be backloaded, which is especially an issue when Rosen doesn’t possess elite arm strength or mobility to make tough throws off of awkward platforms with regularity. He’s a classic pocket thrower who needs to be balanced in his lower body to succeed, you defeat Rosen the same way you would Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, with interior pressure.

Rosen is a decent, but not a great athlete, he’s an okay scrambler too but not the greatest, and he’s only decent at throwing on the run.

The thing about Rosen is that he’s really good at just about everything, he isn’t quite truly elite in any single area. While he’s extremely polished and pro-ready, he might not have the tantalizing upside of some of the other passers.

Finally, his arm strength is good but not great too. His zip isn’t elite, and his deep ball accuracy could be better as well. It’s also worth mentioning that Rosen’s precise ball placement in tight windows, is better over the middle than towards the sideline.

IN CONCLUSION

Rosen was a proficient college QB who never reached his full potential in large part due to injuries and a poor offense at UCLA. That said, he has all the skills to develop into a prolific passer who’s good for 4,000 yards year in and year out.

There’s little downside to Rosen once you get past his injuries, and even if his upside might not be an all-time high, you’re talking about a quarterback who easily projects to be a Matt Ryan type and will profile as a top-10 player at his position soon.

So why would he drop to five, you might ask? Well, the NFL’s never been a fan of players who speak their mind, especially regarding politics or social issues, and that seems to be turning some teams off.

If personality issues force Rosen to drop to five, the Broncos would be crazy not to pick him. Rosen slipping to Denver could be a franchise-altering selection that could change the course of the Broncos for the next decade. It could be argued he’d be the best young quarterback in the AFC West the moment he arrived at the Mile High City.

If there’s a player you should hope drops to Denver—within the realm of reality, meaning Sam Darnold isn’t part of this—Rosen should be that guy, plain and simple.

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