Los Angeles Rams: Is Jared Goff a one-season wonder?

Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams had a tremendous season in 2017, but was Goff a one season wonder? Can he possibly maintain such success? The Rams’ success depends on it.

No matter how poor or successful a team’s season was, there are always major offseason questions on the front burner. The NFL turns over too much for even the best teams to advance a calendar year unscathed. Let’s continue the team-by-team overview with the Los Angeles Rams.

No one could have predicted the success the LA Rams would find on the field in 2017. They went from having the worst offense in the NFL to having one of the best in one offseason. They went from the most mediocre coach in league history to having the best young coach in the sport today. On the one hand, we should expect some regression out of this club.

On the other, maybe the Rams are rising into the hole left by the Seattle Seahawks atop the NFC discussion. Yet the biggest question of all is at quarterback. Is Jared Goff a one-season wonder?

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the Los Angeles Rams in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

Los Angeles has already been busy this spring, trading away Robert Quinn and trading for Marcus Peters. They added Aqib Taleb and Sam Shields as well. Sammy Watkins is out the door, as is Trumaine Johnson. The team will need to address the linebacker corps and add another pass catcher. Other than that, where is the dire circumstance on this roster?

The Rams have the best defensive player in the league. They also have the reigning Offensive Player of the Year. After a breakout year, is this team actually going to be…better?

Everything seems to come back to one, lone, inescapable question: is Jared Goff actually really good? He was sensational in his second season — first under coach Sean McVay. Goff ranked in the top five among quarterbacks in touchdown percentage, interception percentage, yards per attempt, yards per completion, and quarterback rating. Thanks to pushing the ball down the field, the only major category in which he didn’t finish ranked among the top five passers was completion percentage.

But it feels impossible to know whether this was a coming-out party for Goff or McVay and his offense taking the league by storm. Goff can still succeed if it’s the latter, but the Rams won’t reach any type of ceiling as an organization if that is the case. An offense can’t carry a quarterback. It has to be the other way around for a squad to be discussed among the elites.

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Los Angeles needs to add a pass catcher — perhaps a game-breaking tight end — to really unleash Goff and find that ceiling. If the defense takes a step back thanks to a revamped back eight in the 3-4 scheme, the offense would need to make up the difference, and that falls on Goff, not McVay. I’d consider myself cautiously dubious that he can make another leap, or even stay at the superb level he reached in 2017.

Dan Salem:

I see little reason to assume Goff will regress in 2018. The continuity across his offense is there and Los Angeles will certainly bring in a wide receiver or two. There is a hole left by the departure of Watkins, yet he did not have a huge impact on the Rams’ offense last season. The hole is not that large. Tight end is also important, but no matter where Los Angeles adds a playmaker, simply making such an addition improves the weapons around Goff.

In order to answer the question of whether Goff had one great season, or set the baseline for his career, we must employ the eye test. Needless to say, he passes the eye test with flying colors. Goff was your typical rookie in his first season, showing potential while making a lot of mistakes. Last year he played sensationally, but also looked great commanding the Rams offense. Los Angeles complemented all of Goff’s strengths and he oozed confidence under center. None of that is going away in 2018.

The NFC West won’t be a pushover division next season, but the Rams are still on top. The biggest reason why is that Goff learned to take care of the football in 2017. He tossed seven interceptions as a rookie in seven games. That’s one per game for those unwilling to do the quick math. Last year in 15 games, more than twice as many starts, he tossed seven interceptions, while also throwing 28 touchdown passes. In addition, his completion percentage shot up last season. This is the kind of improvement every player strives for. It was no aberration.

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While Goff is the real deal, he still must prove himself in the playoffs. Los Angeles must fend off a bevy of talented NFC teams just to qualify in 2018, so they have their work cut out for them. This is a team heading in the right direction with a real talent at quarterback.