David Dubovy- Chooses Darnold
Saturday night the two top quarterback prospects in the 2018 draft class went after each other as UCLA played #11 USC. Josh Rosen, the UCLA quarterback threw for 421 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Sam Darnold, the USC quarterback, had 264 yards and 1 interception. Both quarterbacks were inconsistent through out the game, as Sam Darnold’s USC came out on top. Both Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold showed their flaws during the game, as inconsistent passes and costly turnovers plagued them as the night went on. Darnold showed off his arm strength and ability to make spectacular plays when the pocket collapsed. On the year Sam Darnold has 3462 yards passing, 24 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions, and is completing 63% of his passes through 12 games. Darnold has also showed he can scramble out of the pocket and make plays with his feet. He has 99 yards rushing and 5 rushing touchdowns. Every quarterback enters college and leaves as a project and this year’s quarterback class is no different. Saturday nights game between UCLA and #11 USC brought out the best and worst of both Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold.
Kevin Lidlow- Chooses Rosen Saturday night was the battle of two prolific quarterbacks in college football and possibly the number 1 overall pick for the 2018 NFL draft in USC’s Sam Darnold and UCLA’s Josh Rosen. Darnold got the best of Rosen as USC beat UCLA 28-23, where he went 17/28 with 264 yards an interception and a rushing touchdown, Rosen on the other hand went 32/52 with 421 yards 3 TD’s and an interception. Overall, this was a game to watch where both of these teams went back and forth and possibly would’ve been a different score if you take away some costly penalties by UCLA. Both quarterbacks played well last night but when it comes to the New York Jets, I would take a hard look at Josh Rosen.
I think Josh Rosen should be the New York Jets quarterback going into 2018 because he looks more pro ready than Darnold in my opinion. In this season, Rosen has 24 TD’s and only 10 interceptions compared to Darnold who has the same amount of TD’s but two more interceptions, and both of their completion rating is about the same. But the difference between the two is that Josh Rosen has more experience as starting quarterback with three years under his belt, while Darnold is in his second year. That is huge because you want a quarterback who has been under center a long time and the last time the Jets picked a quarterback from USC, he only had one full year as a starting and we all know how that turned out. A quarterback who is older and more mature will have a better success; for example, Deshaun Watson graduated as a senior and when he became a starter for the Houston Texans, I thought he would’ve been rookie of the year because of how he performed before he got hurt.
If you watched closely on how Rosen throws, he has a great throwing motion and gets the ball out of his hands quickly, perfect for a west coast type of offense. His footwork is phenomenal and when he is under center, he throws at a very firm base, and has the touch and velocity to throw it into tight places. He can manipulate safeties and reset his feet to throw it in the opposite direction, however sometimes he can get too careless with the ball and throw costly interceptions. Darnold has the size, strength, and ability to make plays but can hold on to the ball for way too long and in the NFL, you can’t do that.
Personally I doubt that the Jets will be able to get either one of these quarterbacks unless they trade up, but if I were to choose, I would go with Rosen because of his experience. The Jets need a quarterback who can step in on the first day and from the way it looks like, Petty and Hackenberg are just not ready yet. Darnold is just too young and still needs a lot of growing up to do and isn’t the kind of guy who can just come in on the first day and be a starter.