Unemployed coach Jim Mora Jr. has embarked upon the strangest sort of passive-aggressive smear campaign against Josh Rosen that reveals more about the coach than his former prized pupil.
Mora, fired by UCLA after going 17-19 in the past three seasons, followed up his bizarre remarks last week that he'd draft USC's Sam Darnold over Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen with the No. 1 overall pick with some more mixed messages.
It's no secret in the NFL world that Mora has been critical of Rosen behind the scenes for the better part of a year. His decision to go public in the run-up to the NFL Draft, however, is curious to say the least.
In one breath, Mora told MMQB over the weekend that, "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."
In the next breath, Mora offered that Rosen "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."
Translation: Mora and his assistants weren't smart enough to give Rosen the answers he craved.
There are too many people in the football world threatened by a player with varied interests. Rosen, by all accounts, is an intelligent life form. I'm not talking about being just "football smart." I'm talking about being a smart human being. Football lifers sometimes mistaken varied interests with diverted interests.
Rosen isn't any less passionate about football because he actually has a functioning brain that extends beyond a playbook. If anything, his additional interests fuel his curiosity and hunger in his chosen profession. Yes, he wants to know why. The smart ones usually do.
The fact that Mora couldn't always answer Rosen's questions shouldn't keep NFL teams from believing in the best actual quarterback in this draft class. Scouts have made it abundantly clear for the past year-and-a-half that this kid has got the goods. He's special even if he's not waving pompoms in plain sight.
He's a thinker. He has a mind of his own. The horror!
There have been fair criticisms about Rosen's maturity as a younger player. The player will tell you himself that he made some questionable choices that have helped him grow.
Put it this way: If Rosen's biggest transgression as a college kid was importing a hot tub to his dorm room and blasting the current administration, he'll be just fine.
From a purely football standpoint, Rosen makes all the sense in the world for the New York Jets at pick No. 3 because of the guy who will be spending more time with him than anyone else in the building.
Offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates would be the perfect teacher for Rosen. They have the exact same makeup. They're both pretty smart football minds who love the sport.
Rosen's football IQ and persona have drawn comparisons to Jay Cutler, who didn't suffer fools as a younger player, either. Bates, who shared many of those personality traits as a younger coach, was one of the few people that got through to Cutler in Denver and Chicago.
Bates will be able to get the absolute best out of Rosen. It's the perfect fit. He'll challenge Rosen intellectually like he's never been challenged before in his football life.
Boredom won't be an option.
Sports on 04/03/2018