[CTcard]

It's pretty rare for a true freshman QB to start so both are very impressive.

Or, it is a very unimpressive comment upon the state of quarterback recruiting/development at both programs.

As a reminder of one long running theme on this board, true frosh QBs rarely perform very well, and often playing as a true frosh seems to inhibit progress. However, there is of course significant individual variation. One of the more interesting cases in point are the careers of Christian Hackenberg and Jared Goff - both the same year as Burns, Ertz (our next opponent), and Browne (at $C).

Hackenberg had a pretty good year for a frosh.
231-392, 59%, 20 TD, 10 INT, 7.5 yds/att, PER = 134 (60th).

Goff had a less good year,
318-529, 60.1%, 18 TD, 10 INT, 6.6 yds/att, PER = 123 (86th)

Then, Goff kept improving and became the #1 pick in the draft last year. Hackenberg kept getting worse, though he was still drafted in the second round (fourth QB chosen) - that seems to be primarily based upon his high school highlights and the fact that he looks like a movie-NFL QB.

It's interesting to compare Rosen and Browning to the frosh year of those two.

Rosen
292-487, 60.0%, 3669 yds, 23 TD, 11 INT, 7.5 yds/att, PER = 134 (55th)

Browning
233-369, 63.1%, 2955 yds, 16 TD, 10 INT, 8.0 yds/att, PER = 139 (41st)
[Browning missed one game due to injury, vs Stanford]

So, Rosen's stats were pretty similar to Hackenberg's, Browning's somewhat better; but both better than Goff. 
Obviously the common wisdom is that Rosen will improve more than Browning going forward - it will be interesting to see what actually happens.

but in terms of future development and NFL potential it is significant that Rosen is almost a year younger than Browning.

The age may be significant, but that is not what most of the hype is about. Rosen throws a very nice ball, and his very best throws really are impressive. I think it is folly to simply assume he will become consistent at the level of his best stuff, but if he does so he will indeed be a very good QB. 

[CTcard]

It's pretty rare for a true freshman QB to start so both are very impressive.

Or, it is a very unimpressive comment upon the state of quarterback recruiting/development at both programs.

As a reminder of one long running theme on this board, true frosh QBs rarely perform very well, and often playing as a true frosh seems to inhibit progress. However, there is of course significant individual variation. One of the more interesting cases in point are the careers of Christian Hackenberg and Jared Goff - both the same year as Burns, Ertz (our next opponent), and Browne (at $C).

Hackenberg had a pretty good year for a frosh.
231-392, 59%, 20 TD, 10 INT, 7.5 yds/att, PER = 134 (60th).

Goff had a less good year,
318-529, 60.1%, 18 TD, 10 INT, 6.6 yds/att, PER = 123 (86th)

Then, Goff kept improving and became the #1 pick in the draft last year. Hackenberg kept getting worse, though he was still drafted in the second round (fourth QB chosen) - that seems to be primarily based upon his high school highlights and the fact that he looks like a movie-NFL QB.

It's interesting to compare Rosen and Browning to the frosh year of those two.

Rosen
292-487, 60.0%, 3669 yds, 23 TD, 11 INT, 7.5 yds/att, PER = 134 (55th)

Browning
233-369, 63.1%, 2955 yds, 16 TD, 10 INT, 8.0 yds/att, PER = 139 (41st)
[Browning missed one game due to injury, vs Stanford]

So, Rosen's stats were pretty similar to Hackenberg's, Browning's somewhat better; but both better than Goff. 
Obviously the common wisdom is that Rosen will improve more than Browning going forward - it will be interesting to see what actually happens.

but in terms of future development and NFL potential it is significant that Rosen is almost a year younger than Browning.

The age may be significant, but that is not what most of the hype is about. Rosen throws a very nice ball, and his very best throws really are impressive. I think it is folly to simply assume he will become consistent at the level of his best stuff, but if he does so he will indeed be a very good QB.