Is Jim Mora’s comment on Josh Rosen enough to give Browns pause?

The Cleveland Browns have to get the quarterback situation right in the 2018 NFL Draft. So are Jim Mora’s comments about Josh Rosen enough to be concerning?

Cleveland Browns general manager John Dorsey has a major decision staring him in the face regarding the team’s quarterback situation.

The Browns hold the No. 1 selection in the 2018 NFL Draft and are almost guaranteed to use it on a quarterback. The question that Dorsey and his rebuilt front office of lifelong “football guys” need to answer is — which one?

If former UCLA head coach Jim Mora had his way, the pick would be USC’s Sam Darnold, which is interesting given that Mora’s former quarterback, Josh Rosen, is also in the mix to be the next Browns quarterback.

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So what gives? Is Mora really down on Rosen? Or did Mora just not get the memo that, with Dorsey now in charge, Cleveland is no longer the place where rookie quarterbacks go to see their professional dreams die?

Mora tried to clarify his feelings over the weekend in an interview with Peter King at Monday Morning Quarterback, explaining that he simply believes the Darnold would fit better with the Browns rebuilding plans. Strange, since the New York Giants, picking at No. 2, and the New York Jets, picking at No. 3, are also rebuilding. But maybe they do things differently in the big city?

In any event, Mora did add an interesting comment about Rosen that Dorsey needs to follow-up on during his evaluation process. According to MMQB, whichever team selects Rosen is going to have to keep him engaged if they want to bring out the best in him:

"“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.”"

It is a bit odd for Mora to call out Rosen for being a millennial since each of the available quarterbacks falls into that same category, so let’s just file that one away. But the part about working to make sure that Rosen does not get bored is one that the Browns need to study.

The current plan is to have veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor run the offense this fall for at least part of the season — preferably all 16 games. If that happens, then Rosen will be sitting for an entire season, which would seem to open up plenty of opportunities for his concentration to wander.

It is not as if the Browns have to worry about Rosen blowing off practice and a game for an impromptu trip to Las Vegas. And they dealt with similar questions last season when defensive end Myles Garrett had the audacity to talk about his interests outside of football. But running the scout team each week in practice likely will get very old, very fast.

Mora’s comments are not a big enough reason for the Browns to scratch Rosen off the draft board, but it is another piece of the puzzle that the team must look at during the draft evaluation process.

Next: Take the hint about Josh Rosen

The Browns may be moving in another direction anyway, but if Dorsey believes the structure is not in place for Rosen to succeed in Cleveland, especially with the real possibility that the Browns may be looking for a new head coach (and offensive coordinator) in 2019, then the decision may be easier than Rosen’s fans want to believe.