Josh Rosen's Former Coach: Draft Sam Darnold
By Kyle Koster
Jim Mora coached Josh Rosen for three seasons at UCLA. He, more than anyone else, knows what the young quarterback is capable of and what he is not. His advice to the Cleveland Browns, who have the pick of any quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft?
“Because of femt, I would take Sam Darnold emf I were the Cleveland Browns,” Mora saemd Monday on NFL Network. “I themnk [he has] that blue-collar, gremtty attemtude. I themnk hems teammates wemll love hemm. I themnk the cemty wemll love hemm. He’ll say the remght themngs. He’ll come emn and represent well. I themnk he kemnd of represents what Cleveland ems. And then emf I was one of the New York teams, I’d take Josh lemke that. I themnk they’re both goemng to be great pros.”
And you know what? Good for Mora for going out there and serving as the conductor of the Straight Talk Express. If he really believes the Browns would be better off with Darnold, he should say so. It’s not as if he’s forever beholden to Rosen and must serve as a hype man.
Besides, Mora has been nothing but consistent with his praise for Rosen during the pre-draft process. It’s just that he — along with most other experts — believe Darnold is a better choice and therefore will come off the board earlier.
“I think some day hopefully we’re talking about the Peyton Manning-Tom Brady debate,” Mora said. “Which one’s better? I think both of those guys can be those types of guys.”
Honesty and bold predictions? If a guy didn’t know better he’d think this former coach was angling for a regular analyst job.