Los Angeles Rams: Is It Time to Panic With QB Jared Goff?
By Randy Gurzi
With quarterback Case Keenum still ahead of first overall pick Jared Goff it may be time for Los Angeles Rams fans to start wondering what’s going on
Football is back in Los Angeles as fans finally got to see an NFL game this past weekend. On display during that game was a rookie who is being heralded as the next face of the franchise for his team.
Sadly for the L.A. Rams, that rookie was fourth-round pick Dak Prescott who played exceptionally well for the road team, the Dallas Cowboys. Prescott looked smooth and confident as he completed 10-of-12 passes for 139 yards and had two touchdowns on the night.
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Jared Goff on the other hand was just 4-of-9 passing with 38 yards and an interception. This past April, Goff was the name everyone talked about as the next face of his team. The Rams traded a handful of picks to move up to the number one draft pick so they could secure his rights out of Cal.
The talk was that things could be slow going into the NFL thanks to Goff playing in a spread offense where he operated solely out of the shotgun. Yet those excuses make no sense seeing how Prescott performed.
The Mississippi State product also operated from the shotgun and being picked 134 selections after Goff means he should have had a tougher time transitioning. On Saturday, Prescott looked natural operating under center in front of 90,000 fans. According to Alden Gonzales of ESPN, Goff is still struggling to do this in practice let alone in front of a packed L.A. Coliseum.
"On Tuesday, he threw a couple of picks and fumbled a couple of snaps, at one point even getting tripped up while coming out from under center. On at least a couple of occasions Wednesday, Goff — accustomed to running a no-huddle offense and taking almost every snap from the shotgun at Cal — didn’t get the ball out quickly enough on standard three-step drops."
In this same report head coach Jeff Fisher claims that Case Keenum is still clearly ahead of Goff. That’s a strange thing to hear considering Keenum was acquired for a seventh round pick from the Houston Texans last season and was fighting for a roster spot at this time in 2015.
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Of course Fisher keeps playing it off as being rookie pains and says Goff is fine. However with Prescott looking so well adjusted and both first- and second- overall selections from 2015 moving to starting jobs so fast, is it time to panic?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Jameis Winston) and Tennessee Titans (Marcus Mariota) both took quarterbacks in the first round last season and both were starters pretty much upon arrival.
Goff’s transition isn’t going so smoothly. In the past it may not have been a concern, but with so many rookies adjusting quicker this is alarming for sure.
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Los Angeles payed way too high of a premium for Goff to trail Case Keenum now, or ever. Hopefully for their fans he turns it around. If not, it may be a long time before they can recover.