Josh Rosen and the Cleveland Browns: A Madden Simulation

UCLA Bruin Josh Rosen is one of the best quarterback prospects entering the 2018 NFL Draft. To find his best fit, we are putting him on every potential landing spot and simulating a season on Madden 18.

Starting a weekly series here on LA Sports Hub, we are going to take a look at the best fits for the LA quarterback duo of Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold. Rosen, from UCLA, and Darnold, from USC, are two of the top five quarterbacks in this year’s draft class. With many different teams needing quarterbacks, the possibilities are endless for either man.

On Tuesday’s we are going to look at Rosen; Thursday’s are for Darnold. Starting with Josh Rosen on the Cleveland Browns and Sam Darnold on the New York Jets, we can try and find the best fit for the duo.

To do so, we downloaded a community roster on Madden 18 and placed both quarterbacks on the proper team. Although this obviously is not the most accurate projection method, it is a fun little experiment. Both quarterbacks are rated 79, a reasonable rookie rating on Madden.

Although Josh Allen has emerged as the favorite to go first overall, Rosen’s name is still in the conversation. Heck, the Browns could even draft Saquon Barkley with the first overall pick and bring Rosen in with the fourth overall pick.

Without a further ado, let’s take a look at how Josh Rosen and the Cleveland Browns worked together in his rookie year:

Josh Rosen’s stats: 4,244 yards, 62% completion, 28 touchdowns, 17 interceptions, 91.8 rating, 182 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown.

Cleveland Browns record: 6-10, tied for second in AFC North

As you can see, Rosen had a pretty fantastic season with the Browns, however, I think the simulation did too much balancing on the season. The Browns tied for second in the division with the Ravens at 6-10; that is somewhat understandable (on the Ravens half).

More from LA Sports Hub

• Lakers: 5 Players to Target Through Trades to make another championship run
• LA Chargers: Week 8 against Denver Broncos is a must-win
• LA Rams: Jared Goff wants to keep the Los Angeles title streak going
• Lakers Rumors: Los Angeles Clippers interested in Rajon Rondo
• LA Chargers: Justin Herbert wins AFC Rookie of the Month

However, the Steelers only went 9-7 to secure the division. This is likely due to the lack of difference in ratings. Madden is not going to make the Browns full of 60 overalls, instead, they are going to make them decent in terms of rating, as they still are professional football players. Thus, the talent gap is not as big as it should be.

Still, Rosen absolutely lit up the field in his rookie year. He finished 13th in passing yards and 16th in touchdowns, not bad for a rookie on the Browns. Rosen finished third in the AFC Offensive Rookie of the Year. His best week came in week eight against the Vikings. Rosen completed 34 of 50 passes for 429 yards and four touchdowns.

To compare to a real-life quarterback, second-year QB Jared Goff threw for 3804 yards, 28 touchdowns, seven interceptions with a 62.1 completion percentage. Rosen had more yardage (as Goff only played 15 games in 2017) with the exact same completion percentage. However, Goff was more efficient, throwing less interceptions.

Next: Chargers must look at UCLA OT Kolton Miller

The Cleveland Browns should be more than happy to get a Jared Goff-like performance out of UCLA’s Josh Allen. While that may be a daunting task with limited options around him, according to our first Madden simulation, it is possible.