It’s March 20, 2014, just a normal Thursday for millions of people. Not for the nation’s #1 High School Quarterback. Today’s the day he makes his decision between Cal, UCLA, and Michigan. A decision that determines where he’ll spend his next 3-4 years playing college football.
He rises from his bed in his hometown of Bellflower, California, a town that wasn’t new to producing stars. Bellflower had produced an NFL Hall of Famer, Ron Yary, who graduated from Bellflower high, a seven-time MLB All-Star, Trevor Hoffman, and an NBA MVP, James Harden.
Rosen was just trying to be another name to add to the legendary town. When decision time comes, he says how he plans to stay local, hoping to only have to drive an hour from his home (barring traffic, of course) and commits to the University of California Los Angeles, UCLA.
Rosen’s college career starts off just as the #1 recruit that five-star athletes should be. With a hole left by former start Brett Hundley, Rosen battles throughout the spring to become the first true freshman to start a season opener at UCLA.
His first season is magical but comes off the rails against a much more seasoned USC team. This is okay. No one expects a true freshman to immediately produce a National Championship. Rosen is the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and seems destined for greatness, not only at UCLA but in the NFL. Every “Way Too Early 2018 Mock Draft” written in 2015 or ’16 has one name at the top. The gunslinging California golden boy is going to be the prize for whatever team has the top pick. So, you’re probably wondering, what went wrong?
Everything that could’ve.
Fast forward.
Rosen’s sophomore season is already off to a rocky start, 3-2 heading to Arizona State to play the Sun Devils. Everything comes to a screeching halt, however, when the QB goes down with a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter. Days later the news breaks that he’s going to be out for the rest of the season.
He’s still in line to be the top pick in 2018. His future hasn’t been completely derailed. That’s until the new “gunslinging California golden boy” emerges onto the scene. USC has their own prized quarterback, and he just might be a little bit better than Rosen.
Enter Sam Darnold.
Darnold had taken over a 1-3 Trojans team at about the same time that Rosen was headed out, and he never looked back. He led them to a perfect 9-0 in his nine starts. A 52-49 win over Penn State in the Rose Bowl has scouts salivating over Darnold’s potential, proclaiming that he, not Rosen, will be the first player taken in the 2018 Draft. Mock drafts during the 2017 offseason can’t decide who’ll be first, but it seems like Darnold has the edge.
Fast forward.
2017 kicks off. The two are under the microscope together, side by side. Darnold starts the season off very shaky, with no touchdowns and two interceptions against an inferior Western Michigan team. Rosen leads the second-largest comeback in college football history, rallying from down 34 to beat Texas A&M.
The two from there would trade solid and average performances the rest of the way, but when the two met in the late season, Rosen looked much more impressive. Why was it though that Rosen hadn’t separated himself from Darnold?
Despite a breathtaking Heisman season from Baker Mayfield (we’ll get back to this in a minute), Rosen still appeared to be slotted as the second-best quarterback behind the USC QB.
The biggest issue is that Rosen created a reputation for himself as a punk, a kid, immature, and someone who can’t lead a football team. He made headlines saying that “football and school don’t go together,” and regardless of the context, that’s what the media gathered. Darnold, on the other hand, was viewed as a clean, safe, perfect leader for a football team, and as a result, was viewed as a better prospect than Rosen.
By the combine and college All-Star games (Senior Bowl and Shrine Game) it appeared that Rosen could be anywhere from the first to the fourth quarterback taken. Along with Darnold, the aforementioned Heisman winner Baker Mayfield, who was never looked at as an NFL quarterback, had put himself into top-five contention. Even Wyoming’s Josh Allen who was sculpted by the quarterback gods had the potential to be something the NFL had never seen before.
By now you know the story though. Mayfield goes 1. Darnold goes 3. Allen goes 7. Rosen goes 10 to Arizona. Not a great fall if you think about everything he went through, but to Josh, it’s everything. He’s more motivated than ever. In his eyes, he shouldn’t have fallen past one.
I can’t imagine how he feels today. Out of the five quarterbacks taken in the first round (including Lamar Jackson), Rosen is the forgotten one. NFL fans are waiting for the moment that the savior of the Browns, Mayfield can get in the game. We’ve already seen Jackson on some trick plays, Allen in week 1 against the Ravens, and the man himself Sam Darnold make his first NFL start for the Jets. However, no one talks about Rosen.
That’s okay though. When his time comes he’s going to be ready. He always is. Just look at his first start for UCLA en route to a Freshman All-American season, or his first start in his quest to take back his #1 spot from Sam Darnold against Texas A&M. His first shot in the NFL will be no different. Unlike Darnold, Mayfield, Allen, and Jackson he’s been preparing for his time since his last days of high school. He knew he was going to get here. You may have forgotten about him, but once he plays, no one will ever again.
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