Rams QB Jared Goff erased several doubts with his play in 2017
VINCENT BONSIGNORE
link: https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/10/bonsignore-jared-goff-erased-several-doubts-with-his-play-in-2017/
The Rams weren’t exactly hiding their intentions last January when they hired Sean McVay as their new head coach.
Yes, they recognized in the youngest head coach in NFL history the type of leader they felt necessary to lift their franchise out of more than two decades of non-winning seasons.
And while his age (he was 31 when he was hired) might have been a red flag for some teams, the Rams saw it as a benefit. If, as they truly believed, he was the home-run hire they suspected, he’d solidify not just the short term future but the long range one they deem so vital to successfully incorporating themselves back into the crowded L.A. sports market.
But there were other motives as well.
Not yet a year removed from investing six draft picks in moving to the top of the 2016 draft to select Cal quarterback Jared Goff, then watching anxiously as Goff got buried underneath the ineptness of former head coach Jeff Fisher’s outdated offense, they knew they needed a vibrant and contemporary offensive mind and teacher to better insure Goff maximized his skill set.
McVay was tutored under the watchful eye of Jon and Jay Gruden and Mike Shanahan — all offensive leaning head coaches — and was widely lauded for assisting in the impressive ascent of Kirk Cousins from fourth-round afterthought to Pro Bowl quarterback.
And as he huddled with Rams brass during the interview process, McVay articulated a thorough plan explaining how he’d go about nurturing Goff from the struggling rookie he appeared in 2016 to the very top of his ceiling. Part of it was surrounding Goff with respected and proven offensive coaches and teachers — and a better offensive system to match — and improving the talent infrastructure around him. Specifically along the offensive line and at wide receiver.
By improving Goff’s support system and putting him in better positions to tap into his particular skill set, McVay believed the second-year quarterback would squash the hasty presumption he was destined for a disappointing career.
McVay wasn’t just saying that, either. Part of the lure of coaching the Rams, he’d often explain, was working with a young quarterback he was a fan of, even after studying film of him struggling as a rookie. McVay believed in the 23-year-old Goff. Enough to stake his first career head coaching job on Goff’s potential and his own plan to help him reach it.
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, right, with quarterback Jared Goff (16) look on as a play is reviewed in the first half of a Wild Card NFL football playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, Jan. 06, 2018 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Rams coach Sean McVay, left, said quarterback Jared Goff showed a firm grasp of the offense and built a solid foundation for growth in 2017. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
All of which made McVay’s first season at the helm largely about one thing, even if it didn’t necessarily correlate to many more wins: The development of young Jared Goff.
As we now know, the concept of expediting Goff’s development and winning football games were not mutually exclusive. The Rams rose out of nowhere to win their first NFC West title since 2004, and Goff completely altered the “bust” narrative so many would-be experts slapped on him after a rough rookie season.
As contemporary jargon would put it, that’s a win-win.
The Rams now know they have a high-end NFL quarterback who, at 23, should only get better. One presently capable of leading a football team to the playoffs and, presumably, beyond.
“He has to keep studying and keep it going. But it’s only going to get him better,” said wide receiver Robert Woods. “For him to start off like that, with McVay and this new offense, and deliver as he did, I think it’s just a great start for his future.”
Said linebacker Alec Ogletree: “He’s a tremendous competitor, and you grow each year. The more you play, the better you’re going to get at something. The more you practice, all that stuff. There’s room for everybody on this team to grow, and he’s doing his part being a great quarterback for us.”
Right or wrong, hasty or not, Goff very much faced a prove-it season this year. And after the Rams did everything in their power to help insure he measured up to it, from the hiring of McVay and his staff, and the addition of talented teammates in Woods, Sammy Watkins, Cooper Kupp and Andrew Whitworth, let’s just say he did so decisively.
“That he can do it, that he can lead this football team,” Rams guard Jamon Brown said Goff proved this year. “I think he’s gotten the confidence of everybody in this locker room. Everybody feels confident in him and the growth that he’s made and the direction that he’s headed. So he’s definitely been a leader, and that was a big step for him.”
Goff’s final stat line only tells part of the story, although it’s impossible not to be impressed with the 3,804 yards he threw for, or the 62.7 completion percentage, or the 28 touchdowns against just seven interceptions, or the 8.0 yards per completion average.
All of which blew away the numbers he posted during the seven starts he made in 2016.
Goff also proved to be durable — starting 15 straight games and only missing the final game of the regular season as a precaution against injury ahead of the postseason — and coachable and astute in immediately grasping McVay’s system to the point of mastering it. By the second half of the season, Goff was becoming more and more comfortable managing situations at the line of scrimmage and, unlike many young quarterbacks, displaying an advanced level in read progression, play calling and game planning.
“Really just kind of understanding the intent of the play calls – where he can almost kind of predict some of the calls that are coming in based on the situation that he’s got so much ownership on,” McVay said. “Here’s our priority third down calls in this area, red zone, some of our priority first and second down calls.
“In a lot of instances, he’d probably be able to tell you guys that before the play has come in, he’s able to kind of predict that because we are so much on the same page, and I think that’s only going to continue to grow as we get more experienced together with our coaches and with Jared.”
Just as important, in talking to teammates, he was confident and assertive as a leader and never seemed intimidated by whatever moment was at hand.
For a young quarterback facing so many critical questions just a few months ago, the season could not have gone much better for Goff.
And it creates a strong foundation from which to keep moving forward.
“I think it allows him to go into the offseason program with a lot of confidence,” McVay said. “ A lot of things that we’ll be able to pick out specifically what we feel like are going to be key focal points and points of emphasis for him, but in terms of leading, just playing the position, the command overall … very pleased with Jared and I thought he had a good year.”
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