Jim Mora on former UCLA QB Josh Rosen: ‘He needs to be challenged intellectually so he doesn’t get bored’

Former UCLA football coach Jim Mora had a lot of good things to say about longtime Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen in a Sports Illustrated Monday Morning Quarterback article that was posted Monday.

But Mora also told writer Peter King this about the NFL prospect he coached for three years:

“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.”

With the exception of the final sentence, it doesn’t sound like the most ringing endorsement. And it came days after Mora said on NFL Network that he thought former USC quarterback Sam Darnold would be a better fit than Rosen for the Cleveland Browns, who have the top overall pick in the NFL draft.

“I put it in the context of ‘fit,’” Mora told King of that comment, adding that Darnold has “the underdog mentality that I think will fit so well in Cleveland, a franchise that’s really been down.”

During the same NFL Network broadcast, Mora added that he thought Rosen would fit well with the New York Giants or Jets, the teams with the second and third overall picks.

And, as mentioned, Mora did have plenty of positive comments about Rosen in King’s piece as well.

“Josh, I think, without a doubt, is the number one quarterback in the draft,” Mora said. “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.”

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii