The Rams have had two good quarterbacks in the past 20 years. One of them, Kurt Warner, was an undrafted free agent. The other, Marc Bulger, was a sixth-round pick. Both were protégés of a generational offensive mind, Mike Martz. Jared Goff? He will not be playing for a generational offensive mind. Jeff Fisher’s take an offense is that it’s a necessary evil, something best approached with the subtlety of a tactical nuke. Runs and screens, runs and screens. Goff, who was successful in college despite not being set up for success, will have to hope the approach translates to the NFL, because he is not being set up for success. He’ll be playing for the league’s least-creative offensive coach behind one of its worst lines. His "No. 1 receiver" is a 5-foot-8 gadget player who has a "I’d Rather Be Playing Running Back" bumper sticker on his car. Goff should clear the lowest bar: Be better than Case Keenum and Nick Foles. But in trying to avoid the same fate as Sam Bradford, he’ll have to work through all the same issues. Uninspired coaching, a shaky supporting cast and an impatient fanbase. Good luck, kid.
That was what Rotoworld’s Patrick Daugherty had to say about the Los Angeles Rams’ QB situation last year, ranking them the 22nd-best QB group in the NFL. A year later with Jared Goff and Sean Mannion still around with Case Keenum now with the Minnesota Vikings, where does Daugherty have them?
Far from the lofty perch at 22...
29. Rams, Jared Goff/Sean Mannion
Last Year’s Ranking: 22Jared Goff’s rookie season was in rarefied air for all the wrong reasons. Neither physically nor mentally ready to play, Goff was forced onto the field for seven games. Of the 49 rookie quarterbacks to make at least seven starts since 2000, Goff posted the fourth-lowest touchdown total (five), sixth-lowest YPA (5.31), 15th-worst QB rating (63.6) and 22nd-worst completion percentage (54.6). Using Pro Football Reference’s “Player Season Finder,” Goff kept company like Blaine Gabbert and Quincy Carter. The only thing Goff was shorter on than awareness was moxie. His 2016 is the reason “deer in headlights” exists as a phrase. The reasons for encouragement are few, though new head coach Sean McVay leads the list. Unlike his predecessor Jeff Fisher, McVay at least believes in offense as a concept. He will have the goal of scoring points, something Fisher did not share. A system quarterback at Cal, it should become clear rather quickly if Goff is qualified to become a cog in McVay’s machine. If he fails — which seems more likely than not — the Rams will be back at Square 1 less than two years after trading the farm for the No. 1 overall pick.
Suffice to say, we’re going to be talking a lot about Jared Goff in 2017. Not sure this is the time or place for hefty analysis.
Just worth adding this to the heap of analysts like MMQB’s Peter King who aren’t buying what Goff is selling in 2017.