Los Angeles Rams: Pressure on Jared Goff Now Increases
By Luke Sims
The Los Angeles Rams are going for broke with new quarterback Jared Goff, especially after jettisoning former starter Nick Foles.
First things first, Nick Foles wasn’t going to be the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams unless everyone around him was injured during training camp. Getting rid of someone who probably wasn’t going to see the field is a net positive for a Rams team that is all in on their young, rookie quarterback.
The decision to part ways with Foles so that he could find another team to play for (He requested his release, per ESPN) was a professional move by both Foles and the Rams. It allows the 27-year-old to possibly catch on someplace else and should enable the Rams to focus down on the quarterbacks they do have on the roster.
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Case Keenum and Goff will be fighting it out to be the starter for the Rams. It’s no secret that Goff will be that guy at some point, possibly even starting the whole season, after the Rams took him first overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. Head coach Jeff Fisher has called Keenum the starter a month before training camp(per the AP), but Goff has the chance to out-battle him to be the starter.
This two-headed monster – a battle between a highly touted rookie and a near-no-name veteran – is not a compelling situation. It barely registers for casual observers who just saw the Rams jettison the only quarterback with national appeal on the roster.
That movement away from Foles isn’t a bad thing, but it does quietly put more pressure on Goff and Keenum. It forces the team to hunker down and rely on those two options as the future. With Foles in the mix, Fischer and his staff had options to do different things at quarterback. Without him, they’re more focused but the pressure is mounting.
If Goff turns out to be everything the Los Angeles Rams hope he will be, then this is a wise move. If he can’t beat out Keenum and Keenum struggles, then the Rams could be in pretty rough shape.
Trading to the top of the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft was a bold move by the Rams. They got the quarterback they wanted, but at the end of the day he simply isn’t a known entity yet. The franchise is pinning its hopes on Goff and the move to release Foles is reflective of that. They need him to succeed.
The Rams don’t just need him to succeed because of what they invested in him, but they need him to succeed because they just removed the last safety net below Goff. If Keenum struggles, it’s Goff up next and the Rams will either sink or swim based on his ability.
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Every team goes through this when pushing to start a young, high draft choice. How that draft choice responds to the increased pressure can dictate how his entire career shapes out. More than anything, the decision to part ways with Foles has made the Rams’ quarterback situation far more interesting to watch.