Don’t sleep on Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams
First-overall pick Jared Goff was destined to fail when he was drafted by the now Los Angeles Rams. In a locker room where upper management and coaches were fighting for their jobs and players were looking to cling on to the 53-man roster, Goff was an afterthought in his first season in the NFL. The team needed to win now for everyone to keep their jobs, so the development of a rookie quarterback was not the top priority for then head coach Jeff Fisher.
Goff battled in training camp for the starting quarterback position, one in which he eventually lost to veteran traveler Case Keenum. However, with the Rams starting the season 4–5 while being held to under 14 points in 5 of those games, Fisher felt the pressures of management, the media and the fans, and eventually gave Goff the starting nod on Nov. 20 against the Miami Dolphins.
Goff would go on to start the final seven games of the season, where he threw for 1,089 yards, 5 touchdowns and 7 interceptions for a total QBR of 22.2. The Rams would lose all seven games he started in. In the midst of this losing streak, Fisher was fired after a 42–14 blowout loss to the Atlanta Falcons, and John Fassel finished the season as the interim head coach.
A disappointing season for any quarterback, the pressure placed upon Goff was unlike any other rookie. A team in a new city following relocation, a head coach fighting for his job, and a veteran quarterback trying to stave the rookie off for the starting position, there was no way for Goff to win. A depleted run game, a shaky offensive line, and a limited receiving core made it appear as if Goff was destined for a career of failure.
But don’t look now, as the Rams few adjustments over the 2016–17 offseason could quickly turn Jared Goff into a top-15 quarterback in the NFL and the Rams into a top-10 offense.
On January 12th, Sean McVay was hired by the Rams at the age of 30, making him the youngest head coach in modern NFL history. A former offensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins, McVay helped mold Kirk Cousins into a Pro Bowl quarterback. Cousins, in 2016, threw for 4,917 yards with 25 touchdowns and a QBR of 71.7. The Redskins offense ranked 3rd in the league for total yards and 12th in points-per-game. Meanwhile, the Rams ranked dead last in both categories.
Following the hiring of McVay, the Rams went all-in on offensive talent in the 2017 draft. Taking TE Gerald Everett in the second round and WR Cooper Kupp in the third, the Rams showed a new direction in draft offensive talent that will help aid Goff. The Rams then went out and signed Andrew Whitworth in free agency, the offensive lineman with the highest pass-blocking efficiency of any tackle in the NFL, and WR Robert Woods from the Buffalo Bills. While pieces were moving in place to aid the young combination of Goff and Todd Gurley, they lacked a true number-one receiver.
Then they traded for Sammy Watkins.
Giving up cornerback E.J. Gains and a 2018 second-round pick for Watkins was a deal the Rams were salivating for. While injuries had limited his young career, the potential of Watkins and the upgrade to this young offense made this a deal McVay and GM Les Snead could not pass up.
In just one short offseason, the Rams improved their offensive scheme, drafted two young receivers, signed one of the league’s best offensive tackles, and traded for a top-20 receiver, when healthy. In the Rams two preseason games this season, Goff is a combined 19-for-24 for 194 yards and a single touchdown.
With a new regime in place and a dark cloud removed from the heads of the Los Angeles Rams, Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams are in prime position to shock the league this NFL season as one of the better quarterbacks and top offenses in the league.
