ESPN Names Josh Rosen as the Pac-12 Sleeper Pick for the Heisman

We're still three and a half months away from the 2016 college football season.

For those of us who follow UCLA Football, not only is that an eternity, but we've also learned over the years to not believe all the preseason hype either.

But, that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun reading about it.

This morning, ESPN published a list of Heisman Trophy sleeper candidates from each conference.

Of course, the obvious choice from the Pac-12 is UCLA's Josh Rosen. The article notes that Rosen "was solid to good last season in his first year of college, launching more than a few throws that inspired gasps of appreciation even from fans of the opponent."

But, at the same time, the article suggests that the biggest question for Rosen is replacing the receivers who departed. Certainly, that's a concern.

The departure of Jordan Payton, Thomas Duarte and Devin Fuller has substantially reduced the experience among the Bruin receiving corps.

But, interestingly, the article makes no mention about concerns about pass protection. UCLA is replacing all three of its interior linemen and the observations from Spring Practice seemed to indicate that there was a need to be concerned about that. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that getting Rosen enough time to throw the ball will be a bigger issue than the receivers come the fall.

The article also mentions that there are already projections that Rosen will be the first pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. And, that, of course, leads to the conclusion that "Rosen's Heisman run is more likely to happen in 2017, but the fact we're typing that suggests he should be on the radar this fall."

Go Bruins!!!