can Goff get to be an elite qb

An elite quarterback is tough to define, but Rams’ Jared Goff has a chance to join that group

RICH HAMMOND

link: https://www.ocregister.com/2018/12/26/an-elite-quarterback-is-tough-to-define-but-rams-jared-goff-has-a-chance-to-join-that-group/

THOUSAND OAKS — The narrative and the questions about Jared Goff have shifted like weather patterns since 2016. Is he a bust? Is he a legitimate starting quarterback? Is he a star? Could he be a superstar?

The current barometer reading is somewhere between the latter two, but stay tuned. Goff receives the most scrutiny of any Rams player, and that comes with the position. After a couple wobbly games, Goff improved last week, but the truest test of his season is about to come, and questions will be answered.

The playoffs are on the horizon, and at the end of a season that has seen him skyrocket to MVP candidacy, then fall under heavy criticism, it’s time for Goff to reveal what class of quarterback he deserves to be in.

“Winning the championship is always the goal,” Rams coach Sean McVay said before Wednesday’s walk-through practice at Cal Lutheran. “In a lot of instances, that does end up being a good measuring stick, but that’s always a team result and they only have so much control. The great ones, they consistently perform, year in and year out, and that’s really the truest measurement of performance.”

That’s why getting a read on Goff’s season – and even his three-year NFL career – is tough.

How to judge a quarterback? Is it a Super Bowl championship? Guys such as Jeff Hostetler, Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer have rings. Is it a couple of All-Pro selections? Then add Rich Gannon to the list. Is it a guy who has led the league in passing? Matt Schaub did that nine years ago. It’s an inexact science.

“I think it’s consistency,” McVay said. “The great ones consistently perform, year in and year out.”

At first hearing, that might sound like cop-out coach-speak, but it is probably the fairest measure, and particularly for Goff, whose has been in search of level ground since the Rams drafted him in 2016.

Write off Goff’s rookie season, because the team was awful and the coaching quite suspect. In 2017, Goff led the Rams to a division title and made the Pro Bowl, but fizzled in a playoff loss – as did most of his teammates – as he completed only 24 of 45 attempts for 259 yards against the Atlanta Falcons.

This season, Goff had an amazing early-season run, with four consecutive games of at least 320 yards. By the end of November, Goff had 26 touchdowns and six interceptions and was considered a potential MVP. In his next three games, though, Goff threw one touchdown pass and six interceptions.

Goff enjoyed what, for the most part, could be considered a bounce-back game last week at Arizona, when he completed 19 of 24 attempts for 216 yards. Goff was efficient but still had a low yardage total, still looked a bit tentative in the pocket and again committed a turnover, on an early strip-sack fumble.

“It didn’t feel different than 90 percent of the season,” Goff said Wednesday. “It felt different, maybe, than a couple weeks prior, but it felt like who we are and what we normally do.”

So, yes, consistency. From Goff’s perspective, the timing of his struggles might be helpful. The downturn provided him just enough time to rebound and peak when it’s most important, in the playoffs.

A big regular-season finale would help Goff toward that and perhaps make history. Goff heads into Sunday’s game against San Francisco with 4,489 passing yards this season. He needs 341 to break Kurt Warner’s single-season franchise record of 4,830, set in 2001.

“It would be cool,” Goff said. “It’s more important to get the win. I could throw for 600 and lose and I wouldn’t be too happy about it.”

Goff already has moved into second place and topped Warner’s 1999 total of 4,353 yards. Warner led the Rams to the Super Bowl in both of those seasons and is a Hall of Famer. That’s greatness, and now Goff has a chance to prove that he deserves to be considered among the upper echelon of active quarterbacks.

“I loved the way that he has responded, even from those couple (difficult) games,” McVay said. “His mindset was, I’m using these as learning opportunities, not something that’s going to set me back.”