Los Angeles Rams: Jared Goff Still Has a Bright Future

Despite not seeing the field yet this season, first-overall pick Jared Goff still has a very bright future for the Los Angeles Rams

I know, I know. It’s not cool to talk about Jared Goff at the moment. After all, what’s really to talk about? Other rookie quarterbacks have become more noteworthy and more exciting so far this season. For instance, the quarterback chosen after Goff, Carson Wentz, has set the league on fire through his first four games.

Related Story: NFL Quarterback Power Rankings: Week 6

Wentz has thrown for seven touchdowns and only one interception, along with 1,007 yards and a passer rating of 103.5. Wentz has also orchestrated the Eagles to an impressive, and surprising, 3-1 record.

The NFC East features more than one talented rookie, though. Dallas Cowboys signal-caller Dak Prescott was thrust into the starting lineup after Tony Romo suffered a preseason injury. However, he has played just as well, if not better, then Wentz. Through five games, Prescott has yet to toss a single interception. He’s completing damn-near 70 percent of his passes and he’s also rushed for three touchdowns as well. By and large, both quarterbacks have been fantastic.

The third quarterback taken in the 2016 NFL Draft, Paxton Lynch, even got playing time earlier than Goff did. Lynch was ineffective in his debut, though. So yes, Wentz and Prescott have both garnered the majority of the headlines. If you were to poll an average fan whom they would start a team with, chances are they would pick both Wentz and Prescott over Goff.

People enjoy talking about them now, and that’s totally fine. After all, society loves talking about the proverbial flavor of the month. However, it’s far, far, too early to give up on the former Cal Golden Bear.

Some people are actually calling Goff a bust already, which is erroneous on so many levels.

Despite not getting playing time yet, Goff is still going to be phenomenal. I personally still believe Goff will have the best career out of this quarterback class, but I digress. Regardless of which QB you think will have the most fruitful career, though, there’s no denying it’s too early to give up on Goff. Perhaps my stance on Goff goes back to my pre-draft analysis of him. During that time, you were either a Goff guy or a Wentz guy. I was a Goff guy through and through.

At that time before the draft, I lauded Goff’s IQ, poise, and physical tools. Moreover, I believed that he deserved praise for his leadership abilities and ability to simply make plays. In terms of pro comparisons, I likened Goff to Matt Ryan, Considering the season Ryan’s had in 2016, that’s high praise.

I stand behind all of those sentiments still.

One thing people need to remember about Prescott’s and Wentz’s success is that both players are playing on good teams. Prescott gets to play with a dynamic, every-down back, a monster of a receiver, a future-Hall-of-Fame tight end, and the best offensive line in football. Wentz, on the other hand, gets to play with guys who can make plays in space on short passes, and a defense that has stepped up significantly. Injuries ravaged Dallas last year, so the Cowboys record wasn’t clearly indicative of the talent on the team.

More from NFL Spin Zone

• Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
• Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
• Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
• Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
• Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens

Furthermore, Wentz and Prescott reside in a rather paltry division, in which a single super power ceases to exist. That isn’t the case in the NFC West.

This will probably sound like a conspiracy theory, but I don’t 100 percent buy the Rams not playing Goff because he can’t beat out Case Keenum. I just don’t really believe that a guy who was taken No. 1 overall can’t win the starting job over a mediocre-at-best quarterback. People need to stop panicking and realize just because Goff isn’t playing doesn’t mean he’s a bad quarterback.

What’s the point to playing Goff this early? Is there really one? I can’t find one. This isn’t a team, in all likelihood, that will be competing for a playoff spot this year. Despite starting hot, the Rams aren’t a special team. So why throw Goff into the fire early just to see him fail? What does this Rams team have other than Todd Gurley? The answer is a resounding “not much.”

Kenny Britt‘s playing more inspired football than he has played in years, but that doesn’t make him a No. 1 receiver. The Rams paid Tavon Austin a boatload in the offseason, but that doesn’t make him a No. 1 receiver either. The offense is devoid of weapons at the receiver position. Furthermore, the offensive line is just flat-out bad. Prior to Week 5, Pro Football Focus ranked Los Angeles’ O-line the 31st in the entire league.

Playing Goff now, with sub par receivers, behind a broken offensive line, would be disastrous for a team in its first year back in L.A. My stance ties back to how Bruce Arians refused to play then-rookie Logan Thomas before he needed to. Arians remained firm in his stance that he wasn’t going to let Thomas fail. He alluded to the fact that once quarterbacks fail early, it’s tough to remove those scars.

Next: 5 NFL Teams on Upset Alert in Week 6

That’s why I think it’s perfectly okay for Goff to take time and just adjust from the sidelines. Sitting Goff for the foreseeable future doesn’t generate a lot of positive headlines. However, it does something arguably more important in the development of a young quarterback, and that’s avoiding negative headlines.

He’s the quarterback for the future. Unfortunately for Rams fans, the future is not Week 6. However, expect to see Goff sprinkled in by season’s end.