Goff watch, week 13

Nantz: Why didn’t they think he could play? Romo: People look at the stats

A post shared by Matt Waldman (@mattwaldmanrsp) on Nov 27, 2017 at 8:55am PST

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Nantz: Why didn’t they think he could play?
Romo: People look at the stats

mike_valverde
Can’t take away what both Matt LaFleur and Greg Olsen have done to help.

mattwaldmanrsp
At the same time, don’t overstate it as an overshadowing factor of what Goff always had. There’s a balance to be found between the two points.

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BumRap wrote:

That was some of the best commentating and insight I have ever listened to from a former player. I thought Olsen did a great job but Romo brought passion and a love for the game with insight regarding all facets of the game as well as clock management etc.

He made the win that much more pleasureable.

BTW I know some think Keyshawn knows so much but Romo keyed in on Goff and appears to be very impressed as he gets it regarding 1st full season and new system an all the nuances Jared is mastering.

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MachS wrote:

I’m not sure how many of you paid attention to it, but Tony was giving our boy some mad props today. He said Jared has the traits of a great QB and in Tony’s opinion has a very high ceiling.

It’s one thing for some ESPN analyst who played DB in college to give praise, but an ex pro bowl QB I feel holds much more weight

He was showing how Jared keeps his weight on his back foot which allows him to deliver balls under duress very quickly and without a lot of wasted movement. Also showcased a little swing pass to Tavon with a free runner coming right at his face.

We all know he’s going to be a great QB but I thought it was cool hearing another great QB highlight some things that make him a beast.

http://subscribers.footballguys.com/apps/article.php?article=waldmantop10wk13

Matt Waldman

IS JARED GOFF A PUPPET DOOMED FOR A LETDOWN?
My friend Josh Norris noted today that Rams head coach Sean McVay is taking full advantage of the ability to be in Jared Goff’s ear at the line of scrimmage. The Rams often line up with 25 seconds on the play clock. It gives McVay and Goff a chance to see the defense and McVay to feed an audible to Goff before the helmet transmission shuts down.

Norris didn’t criticize or even minimize Goff’s performance in light of this information, but he rightly stated that McVay’s usage of the time and technology was notable and although common in the college game, it’s currently rare to other NFL teams. The resulting commentary on Norris’ Twitter thread was filled with commentary from fans and some of them broached Chip Kelly and Nick Foles during Foles’ lone strong year.

Naturally, there were suggestions that Goff is a fluke who needs McVay to be a good quarterback in this league and, if the NFL changes the transmission rule, Goff will be lost an unable to handle the complexities of the Rams system. This is a complete overreaction and simplification of Goff and McVay.

First, there is no point of comparison between Goff and Foles when it comes to execution. Foles always had issues handling pressure in the pocket and making erratic decisions in the middle of the field when pressure arrived. Goff has never displayed this problem. In fact, he’s consistently shown poise, toughness, and smarts with throwing the ball away or taking a calculated risk that at least makes sense in theory.

Quarterbacking is a physical, technical, conceptual, and intuitive craft of execution and leadership. The best quarterbacks prospects have the skill to tie together what they do best with each of these components. After watching a season of tape to prepare for the Saints’ game, Tony Romo had a lot of praise for Goff this weekend. Much of it was focused on the way Goff tied together technique, field awareness, aggression, and poise.

The points Romo makes about Goff’s pocket presence and footwork in the clip below aren’t dramatic changes to what Goff displayed at Cal. Rookies often display some uncharacteristic behavior when uncomfortable. Goff displayed more poise and pocket presence than credited last year. When he had lapsed, his feet weren’t as quiet as what Romo discusses below.

I’ve often discussed Goff’s ability to avoid pressure with efficient movement and linked it to the pocket presence we’ve seen from top pros. Romo breaks this down well, and again, it’s not something Foles ever displayed in Philadelphia.

McVay, Matt LaFleur, and Greg Olsen have given Goff a sound framework to continue mastering the West Coast Offense and a stable and knowledgeable crew to maximizes Goff’s strengths as a technician and on-field strategist. They didn’t turn a proverbial bedwetter into a poised and steely-eyed field general. Goff was never the former.

If anything, McVay’s presence in Goff’s helmet will serve as a useful transition for Goff to eventually make sound audibles of his own choosing. The West Coast Offense is a difficult system and Goff had to learn it from scratch as a rookie and then McVay’s play calls in Year Two. The Cal offense may not be as intellectually demanding with play calls and route variations, but it doesn’t make Goff dumb.

However, we’ve heard these concerns before during the history of football. Otto Graham was a robot who didn’t think because Paul Brown shuttled Don Shula and Chuck Noll from the sideline to the huddle with play calls. Joe Montana had scripted plays early in the game. The quarterbacks of the 1990s weren’t calling the plays like the majority of great passes of previous decades.

It’s far too simplistic to say that Goff is being fed answers to the test or a robot with his coach holding the controls. McVay’s role is close to that of a good corner man shouting out salient advice during a prize fight. Goff still must understand the defenses and make the connection between the current defensive look and McVay’s audible. Most important, Goff’s integration of his physical, technical, strategic, and intuitive talents cannot be controlled by a coach on the sideline as the play unfolds.

This is where Goff is shining the brightest.

leafnose wrote:

Jared has done an outstanding job of selling the play action
what I thought was a thriller of play design late in the 3rd came in the form of Higbee lining up in a near fullback set, OL set fairly close in and sold me as being a run down
Higbee crashes down inside, and Goff turns his back to the defense and playacts right at Gurley. Sold me.
Gurley gets the ball ……ah heck…..I’ve been fooled, and so have the Saints…..and in a flash Goff reads out the defense, and ball is to Watkins for a nifty 20 yard plus gain
to me? That was such a great play. McVay, Goff…..the design. An enormous difference in blocking, and 11 guys doing their job. Wow, wow, wow.

CraigMatson wrote:

Goff’s release is very good ,he can get the ball there quickly and accurately up to 35-40 yards .

I do see he has some challenges with exactly how much air or power to put on some of the longer throws some what randomly.

What it seems on some throws is a measured toss rather than a full distance throw and I think that throw to the faster guys on the roster is the most difficult hook-up period.
You are kind of caught between putting the ball there earlier and it may be a bit high and soft ,,very,defencible or powering it on a line and holding it as long as possible and being hit by rusher or making a throw that is inaccurate to the route and pretty much just an overthrow or bad throw.

Goff it seems to me is trying to capture that middle ground between touch and strength and most f time he’s in the zone to make the completion happen.

Can he throw the ball further on some of these plays like the one to Sammy or the one to Josh Reynolds ,,,?? Yes and I’m sure he will going forward as he stores more muscle memory with all the different Receivers going deep.

For now he’s pretty darn ok and hits passes downfield as innately as any of the other QBs out there with less than 5 yrs years exp.

He’s got the arm and he’s using it as appropriate to the best % effect. I’m fine with that.

Be careful blitzing these Quarterbacks…#HTTR #SKOL #InBrotherhood #LARams #Seahawks #Bengals50 #DaBears #FlyEaglesFly #RavensFlock #HereWeGo #Texans pic.twitter.com/6IlHGvMlY0

— NFL Matchup on ESPN (@NFLMatchup) November 28, 2017

RT to vote @JaredGoff16 for @FedEx Air Player of the Week!!

Goff #AirAndGround pic.twitter.com/RF93d7F7HZ

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 29, 2017

Rams quarterback Jared Goff has gotten the message on how to attack defenses

Gary Klein

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-goff-mcvay-20171129-story.html

The progression was picture-perfect, and it resulted in a touchdown.

On a second-and-goal play against the New Orleans Saints, Rams quarterback Jared Goff caught the snap in the shotgun formation, dropped back and quickly surveyed the coverage.

He looked to his far right and saw that receiver Cooper Kupp was covered. He turned his head slightly and pump-faked to tight end Gerald Everett.

And then — in a move that belied a seasoned-veteran — he pointed at receiver Josh Reynolds in the middle of the end zone and directed him to keep moving left.

Goff fired a pass and the diving Reynolds caught it for his first touchdown.

The play — in a victory that improved the Rams’ record to 8-3 — showed Goff’s development.

“That’s a great representation of a mature quarterback,” McVay said Wednesday.

Goff had help.

The Rams had lined up quickly. Just as Goff appeared ready to begin a snap count, he paused, looked to the sideline and then called an audible. It came from McVay and was delivered through the earpiece in Goff’s helmet.

NFL rules allow coaches to talk to one offensive player and one defensive player between plays until 15 seconds remain on the play clock.

And McVay, the Rams’ play-caller, has maximized that time with Goff, especially when the Rams line up quickly to afford McVay extra time to evaluate the defense.

“He’s great on the headset,” Goff said.

Sometimes, Goff said, McVay utilizes all of the allotted time. Others he uses only five or 10 seconds.

McVay said he communicates with Goff the same way he did with quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy with the Washington Redskins, and that various tempos of the offense dictate how much time he spends communicating with Goff.

He dismissed reports that intimated he was solely responsible for Goff’s success at the line of scrimmage.

“To say that I’m in his ear the whole time, that wouldn’t be the case,” McVay said.

Said Goff: “There’s plenty of times where it gets below 15 and we have to ad-lib a little bit.”

Whatever the case, it’s working.

After struggling in seven starts last season under former coach Jeff Fisher and offensive coordinator Rob Boras, Goff is flourishing.

He has passed for 2,964 yards and 18 touchdowns, with five interceptions. He is completing 62% of his passes going into Sunday’s road game against the Arizona Cardinals.

“We talk about it all the time,” McVay said, “the quarterbacks being an extension of the coaching staff.

“And that’s certainly what Jared has become.”

McVay’s scheme and play-calling have fast-tracked Goff’s development.

Goff also has benefited from improved offensive line play, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said.

“Last year he hardly had a chance to stand in there and throw it,” Arians said during a teleconference. “But, the running game and then his pocket presence — he knows exactly where he’s going with the football, and he’s got that great arm and if you let him sit still in that pocket he’s going to kill you.”

McVay’s communication with Goff at the line of scrimmage was not unusual, Arians said.

“It’s not the first time it’s been done, that’s for sure,” he said. “When you have a young quarterback in a new system it helps tremendously.

“You wish you could talk to him all the way to five seconds.”

The last time Goff faced the Cardinals he completed 22 of 37 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, in a 33-0 rout at London.

He has remained efficient, passing for more than 300 yards three times in the last four games.

Goff’s touchdown pass last week to Reynolds, McVay said, was an example of Goff turning a poor play call by the coach into a success.

“That was all him,” McVay said, adding, “That’s good players making a bad play call look very good right there.”