How quickly will the Rams lean on their No. 1-drafted QB?

How quickly will the Rams lean on their No. 1-drafted QB?

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160427/how-quickly-will-the-rams-lean-on-their-no-1-drafted-qb

When Jared Goff and Carson Wentz finished their respective visits with the Rams a week ago, head coach Jeff Fisher gave them both a simple message.

“Get used to handing the ball to 30.”

That, of course, being star tailback Todd Gurley, the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year who is expected to become one of the most recognizable faces in Los Angeles sports. The Rams might have moved heaven and earth for the No. 1 overall draft pick, but that doesn’t mean they need him to be Atlas when he steps into their facility.

During a pre-draft press conference at L.A. Live earlier this week, Fisher and general manager Les Snead did their best to tamp down expectations for the player they pick on Thursday — widely expected to be Goff, who put up eye-popping numbers in three years at Cal.

• READ: Jeff Fisher, Les Snead tie their future in L.A. to No. 1 pick

Asked if it’s become the standard expectation for first-round quarterbacks to start as rookies, Fisher demurred.

“It’s a case-by-case basis,” he said. “It really depends on the quarterback himself. A lot of quarterbacks have been successful and haven’t started their first year, won Super Bowls.”

Snead concurred, stressing that the proliferation of diverse schemes in college football has made it necessary for NFL teams to become more patient.

“That’s a credit to college football’s innovation,” the GM said, perhaps alluding to the “Air Raid” offense that Goff ran for the Golden Bears. “With all positions, whether it’s a linebacker trying to stop a more spread-style offense, or an offensive lineman, you’re going to be a little more patient with a college player these days.

“They can still play the NFL game, but rewiring their central nervous system to learn your game may take a little longer.”

But this is not an argument borne out by recent history. The last four quarterbacks who were drafted No. 1 overall each started 16 games as rookies: Sam Bradford, for the Rams in 2010; Cam Newton, for the Panthers in 2011; Andrew Luck for the Colts in 2012; and Jameis Winston, for the Buccaneers in 2015.

Of the 13 quarterbacks who were drafted first overall in the last two decades, only four started fewer than 10 games.

Goff (or Wentz) also wouldn’t step into Los Angeles as an ordinary first round pick. No, he would be regarded as a franchise cornerstone, one whose talents were worth the Rams having mortgaged their future in the form of six picks — all in the top three rounds of the 2016 and 2017 drafts.

• Bonsignore: Jared Goff, Carson Wentz linked by fate, bonded by friendship

That’s not a price a club would usually pay to give someone the Carson Palmer treatment. Drafted first overall out of USC in 2003, Palmer rode the bench for his entire rookie season, watching as Jon Kitna led the Bengals to an 8-8 record.

The Rams, however, are not playing for .500. They were already capable of that before, winning seven games in three of the last four seasons while cycling through the likes of Kellen Clemens, Austin Davis, and Case Keenum. Perhaps the team believes that Keenum, who signed his first-round tender earlier this month, can still help ease the soon-to-be rookie’s transition.

And perhaps Fisher and Snead are simply doing their part to ease the burden.

“He’s going to play when we think he’s ready to play,” Fisher said. “It may be the opener. It may not.”