Is UCLA’s Josh Rosen ready to retake L.A. for the Bruins?

Josh Rosen intended to lead UCLA back to national prominence. He’ll have to reclaim Los Angeles first.

His record as a college quarterback is 11-8 after a freshman season that ended with the Bruins losing three of their final four games and a sophomore season that ended on an operating room table.

He also lost the only game he played against USC, whose quarterback, Sam Darnold, has overtaken Rosen as the darling of the Pac-12 Conference.

UCLA Coach Jim Mora recently said Rosen was nearing full strength following surgery on the shoulder injury that limited him to half a season and doomed the Bruins to a 4-8 finish in 2016.

“He’s throwing, and our anticipation, barring any setbacks, is that he’ll be 100% when spring practice starts and we’ll modify if necessary,” Mora said.

Rosen will have to bounce back from more than just the surgery. He wasn’t having a Heisman Trophy-like season even before he was injured against Arizona State in October, throwing for 10 touchdowns with five interceptions in six games for a team that went .500 with him in the lineup.

Now he’ll have to adjust to his third offensive coordinator in as many years upon the hiring of Jedd Fisch in what presumably will be Rosen’s final season before heading to the NFL.

The potential redemption of Rosen is just one of several scenarios at the forefront as the Bruins open spring practice Tuesday:

Can a tailback step up?

UCLA’s pro-style offense flopped last season largely because of prolonged struggles in the running game. That means Fisch and new running backs coach DeShaun Foster must extract more production from the same personnel, since the Bruins did not bring in any new tailbacks.

That puts the onus on Bolu Olorunfunmi, Nate Starks, Soso Jamabo, Jalen Starks and Brandon Stephens. None of UCLA’s five tailbacks managed a 100-yard game last season, and the Bruins collectively managed more than 100 yards rushing in only one of their final seven games.

Running in place became a theme for a team that managed only 84.3 yards rushing per game, ranking No. 127 out of 128 Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

UCLA’s offensive line was a huge part of the problem, but the return of right tackle Kolton Miller from a foot injury that limited him to five games last season should help, as should the development of Andre James, Miller’s late-season replacement. Center Scott Quessenberry, a first team All-Pac-12 selection, is also back, but the Bruins will need to find consistency at guard after rotating through Najee Toran, Poasi Moala, Josh Wariboko-Alali and Kenny Lacy.

Who is No. 2 at quarterback?

Mike Fafaul was perhaps the guttiest Bruin last season, a former walk-on admirably stepping up when Rosen was injured. But Fafaul appeared overmatched at times, throwing nearly as many passes that went for interceptions (11) as touchdowns (12) while leading UCLA to only one victory in his six starts.

The Bruins should have more options behind Rosen in 2017, though the hope is contingency plans are never put to use. Mora said redshirt freshmen Devon Modster and Matt Lynch would compete to be the primary backup and could be pushed by true freshman Austin Burton.

“He’ll come in one notch behind,” Mora said of Burton, “but it depends on how quickly he can pick up the system and adjust and make decisions and present himself as a guy who’s capable of jumping into that competition.”

Can receivers catch on?

Drops were a season-long issue. Maybe part of the problem was that UCLA had 20 players catch passes.

One encouraging sign was that Jordan Lasley and Theo Howard emerged as potential go-to targets by season’s end, with Lasley’s five touchdowns leading the team. Tight ends Caleb Wilson and Austin Roberts were also solid options who showed improvement.

Like with the running backs, the receivers come with a take-as-is label because there are no incoming freshmen. But there is a new position coach in Jimmie Dougherty, who replaced Eric Yarber after Yarber departed for the Rams. Dougherty will also serve as UCLA’s passing game coordinator.

Will familiarity breed success?

Mora hired four new coaches on offense, but most of them are not new to each other. Dougherty served as an offensive analyst alongside Fisch at Michigan and previously worked at San Jose State with Hank Fraley, UCLA’s new offensive line coach.

Foster worked under Mora for three seasons with the Bruins in a variety of roles before spending 2016 as the running backs coach at Texas Tech.

Knowing each other’s coaching styles could help accelerate UCLA’s efforts to revive an offense that averaged only 24.9 points per game last season. The defensive coaching staff returns intact.

Is there a defensive playmaker?

Takkarist McKinley’s 18 tackles for loss at defensive end were more than any two of his teammates combined, making him nearly impossible to replace as he heads to the NFL.

Candidates to replace him as the spark of the defense include end Jacob Tuioti-Mariner, linebacker Kenny Young and end Jaelan Phillips, the most highly touted member of the freshman class.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch