Former UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen wound up a top 10 pick at the 2018 NFL Draft after the Arizona Cardinals traded up from the No. 15 pick to snag their franchise quarterback of the future. It’s a soft landing spot for one of the draft’s top passing prospects, but also a slide for a player once considered in the mix for a top three pick.
Actually, Jim Mora’s comments about Cardinals draft pick Josh Rosen have been consistently positive
Let’s take a look at the whole lot, shall we?
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
And while criticism abounded in the pre-draft process, it would be unfair to blame Rosen’s former coach.
While he’s was thoroughly vetted by teams across the league ahead of the draft, his former Bruins head coach, Jim Mora, was asked about his former QB a lot.
When there were perceived doubts about Rosen’s toughness last season, Mora came to his QB’s defense on that topic:
“I think it’s ludicrous that anyone would question Josh Rosen’s toughness when they don’t know the nature of his injury,” Mora said. “In all fairness to my comment, for a broadcaster to know zippo about what’s going on there to question the toughness of Josh Rosen, like, I guess it drives ratings, I don’t know.”
During the NFL Combine in February, Mora appeared on the NFL Network, where he was asked frequently about Rosen.
“He can handle — he can handle a lot,” Mora said during the combine. “You know, I said this earlier, I don’t just think he’s the best quarterback in this draft, I think he’s the best player and the most impactful player and a guy that can come and have an immediate, positive impact on a franchise.
“I’ve seen him develop into a really good man, and that’s the character,” Mora continued. “I love the character that Josh has become, or the character that he’s demonstrating now. The on the field, the physical talents are obvious. The arm strength, the decision-making, I think he’s got really the pocket awareness. I think he can — every single throw there is, he can make, he’s become a better deep-ball thrower.”
On another segment, Mora had other praise.
“I think he’s benefitted tremendously this year from working with Jedd Fisch, who’s now with the Rams, who was our offensive coordinator,” Mora said on NFL Network. “I think Jedd taught him how NFL quarterbacks are supposed to act. Now he’s got some challenges facing him, like every young guy gong into the league. The challenges I think for a quarterback are: do you understand what it’s going to take to separate yourself from guys that are really good to really great?
“I think he needs the right coaches around him. I think he needs the guys that can challenge him intellectually, because Josh is a guy that wants to know why. And he’s not questioning in terms of ‘why are we doing that?’ it’s like ‘tell me why.’ And that’s kind of the millennial now — if you can tell them why, they respond, and Josh is very much like that.”
Mora was also asked about Rosen’s personality, something that’s been confusingly questioned, despite showing people he definitely isn’t a jer while at the combine in Indianapolis.
“Josh is great,” Mora said. “Sometimes he comes off a little quirky on TV because he tries to be so dang honest, he doesn’t ever try and be something that he’s not, and I appreciate that about that guy. I’m pulling for him, I love him to death. My gut feeling is that he’s going to take it to the next level and be great.”
Mora later said he thought Darnold should go No. 1 overall instead of Rosen, but not necessarily because he thinks Darnold is a better player.
Darnold didn’t go No. 1, but he did go seven picks before Rosen at No. 3 to the Jets. Mora later expanded on his comments, to SI:
“I put it in the context of ‘fit,’” Mora told me. He strongly emphasized the word “fit” in our conversation. He said Darnold has “the underdog mentality that I think will fit so well in Cleveland, a franchise that’s really been down.”
Of his own quarterback, Mora said: “Josh, I think, without a doubt, is the number one quarterback in the draft. He’s a franchise-changer. He’s got the ability to have an immediate impact. His arm talent, intelligence, and his ability to see the game and diagnose the game is rare. He’d come to the sidelines after a play and it was uncanny—he could right away say exactly why he made every decision.
“He needs to be challenged intellectually so he doesn’t get bored. He’s a millennial. He wants to know why. Millennials, once they know why, they’re good. Josh has a lot of interests in life. If you can hold his concentration level and focus only on football for a few years, he will set the world on fire. He has so much ability, and he’s a really good kid.”
That last part had people a little confused, even though it’s similar to things Mora’s said before in praise of Rosen. Rosen responded on Twitter:
The saga continued.
During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Mora clarified himself, adamant he wasn’t intending to be negative:
Mora also insisted that he’s been “really clear” and “really consistent” in his message about Rosen, and that his views should be regarded as “very, very complimentary” and “very, very positive.”
“Things can be misrepresented at times when people decide to edit it a certain way,” Mora said.
Mora went on to say that Rosen does indeed need to be challenged intellectually, but Mora said that’s not a bad thing. He compared Rosen to other cerebral quarterbacks like Peyton Manning, pointing out that former Colts receiver Marvin Harrison recently told Mora that Manning’s inquisitive nature routinely kept meetings going longer than they otherwise would have gone.
“Josh loves football,” Mora said. “There’s been a question, ‘Does Josh love football?’ He loves football. He’s on record as saying, ‘If I didn’t love football, I wouldn’t play football.”
He also clarified his earlier comments about Darnold going ahead of Rosen to Cleveland ...
... and went on to say he informed Rosen of what he was about to say beforehand:
LOL. I’m not sure about you, but I read Rosen’s response as basically “What the hell man, thanks.” I could be wrong, though!
On this same day, Rosen seemingly directed a tweet at the criticism surrounding him:
Mora responded with support, which Rosen retweeted soon after:
And right before the draft began, Mora doubled down and further stressed how positive he feels about Rosen:
All in all, Mora’s comments have been pretty consistently positive.
When looking at all these, there’s no question that there’s nothing but love for Rosen from Mora. Sure, the term “millennial” is taken negatively in 2018, but there’s a pretty good chance Mora really does mean well. Look, if I was a 56-year-old guy who spent the last 23 years in coaching, I would assume “millennial” was a term of endearment, too.
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