from MMQB: http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/03/30/nfl-jared-goff-cleveland-browns-tim-couch-2016-draft
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Bruce Arians didn’t become Cleveland’s offensive coordinator until Tim Couch’s third season, but by the time he did, he could already see the beating Couch had taken during his time with the Browns. “He was probably too tough for his own good,” Arians told The MMQB. “I got him his third year, and he had already been sacked a lot. [Couch led the league in sacks as a rookie in ’99, with 56; his second season was cut short by injury.] He was getting hit hard.” Goff is no stranger to those days. He says the worst was his sophomore year against BYU, when he was only sacked once but took plenty of hits. The one from 260-pound Bronson Kaufusi, with whom Goff now shares an agent, stung the most. Still, in three seasons, Goff never missed a start.
Arians wasn’t sure how long Couch had been having labrum problems, but by then the issue had also started to affect his elbow. That wasn’t enough to keep Couch from leading the Browns to a 9-7 record and the playoffs the following year, though Couch was injured in the season finale and Kelly Holcomb quarterbacked Cleveland in their wild-card loss. Arians is convinced that the pounding Couch took in his early Browns years stifled his career. As a thrower, he had ability that the Cardinals’ coach hasn’t seen much since. “He was as accurate from 15 to 25 as anybody I’ve had,” Arians said. “I’ve always said he was like a three-point shooter. He just had great touch and could just drop balls in over the top of players at that range as good as anybody.”