Goff's 1st start like Everett's

Jared Goff’s debut conjures up similarities to that of Jim Everett, 30 years earlier

By RICH HAMMOND / STAFF WRITER

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/everett-735982-rams-goff.html

LOS ANGELES – The Rams’ tall, sandy-haired rookie quarterback, a hyped high draft pick, sat for more than half the season before the coach finally gave him the nod to play. It’s happening again.

Jim Everett made his Rams debut on Nov. 16, 1986, and now, 30 years and four days later, Jared Goff will make his much-anticipated NFL debut Sunday against Miami at the Coliseum. Everett had a solid 12-year career, and the Rams have even higher hopes for Goff, who finally will take his first step.

It’s been a long wait. Many fans and draft pundits assumed the Rams immediately would hand things over to Goff. Instead, after almost 30 weeks of rookie mini-camp, OTA practices, training camp and regular season, Goff has passed inspection and now is charged with improving one of the NFL’s worst offenses.

“I expect to do whatever it takes to win,” Goff said this week. “Whatever it takes – if that’s a lot of touchdowns, a lot of yards, if that’s handing the ball off a lot – whatever it is, I want to win. I want to be the quarterback for this team for a long time.”

Everett can relate, albeit only with three-decade-old memories. But the similarities seem almost eerie.

In 1986, the Rams traded for Everett, but only after Houston made him the No. 3 overall pick in that draft. Everett and the Oilers couldn’t agree on a contract, so Everett headed west, as the Rams gave up a large package that included two first-round draft picks.

This year, the Rams traded with Tennessee – the franchise that moved from Houston – and gave up several draft picks, including two first-rounders, for the right to take Goff at No. 1.

Thirty years ago, Everett sat and watched the Rams’ first 10 games while he learned the system, and a 6-foot-1 journeyman named Steve Dils led a Rams offense that looked increasingly uninspired.

In 2016, Goff didn’t leave the sideline during any of the first nine games while a 6-foot-1 journeyman named Case Keenum led an offense that ranked near the bottom of the NFL in points and yards.

Finally, Everett took over after Dils and the Rams failed to score a touchdown in six consecutive quarters. Finally, Goff takes over after Keenum and the Rams scored one touchdown in 11 quarters.

Everett, who took to social media to call for the Keenum-to-Goff switch a week before Coach Jeff Fisher made it, said he believes the Rams’ offense ultimately will show improvement with Goff.

“Jared Goff is a quarterback who can put the ball down the field,” Everett said this week. “Not taking anything away from Case Keenum, because he’s had some good moments, but Jared Goff can get the ball down the field. Now, he’s going to have to speed up to adjust to the defensive players, who are faster, but he sees it. That’s what I saw in the preseason. He makes mistakes, but he gets it.”

Everett came off the bench in his debut, when the Rams trailed New England 13-0 in the second quarter. He and threw three touchdowns on only 19 attempts, but the Rams lost 30-28. Everett started the next week, and every week until 1993, and helped the Rams to three playoff appearances and one NFC title game.

So, Everett knows how this feels, to a certain extent. His bubble in the 1980s was smaller, devoid of social media and 24-hour sports television and talk radio. Goff, who projects a laid-back, no-worries attitude in front of reporters, has claimed that he isn’t bothered by outside chatter.

Everett agreed, and said Goff won’t be burdened by pressure. Everett shared the story of how, the week before his debut, as the Rams lost 6-0 to New Orleans, he got in the ear of Coach John Robinson.

“I was begging to go in. ‘Please, I want to go in. I can help,’” Everett said. “That’s what a competitor does. I wanted to get in so bad, but it was on the road. I guarantee you that, last week, Jared Goff was chomping at the bit, saying, ‘I can help. I can do something.’ That’s what competitors do. By the time they put him in, it’s more of a relief for him, because now he can do his stuff.”

Those 1986 Rams had one big advantage, a running back named Eric Dickerson who had rushed for more than 2,000 yards two years earlier. When Everett took over, Dickerson already had recorded six 100-yard games. Todd Gurley, the current Rams star running back, has yet to top 82 yards this season.

Everett made the point that this isn’t all about Goff. Yes, he must make the throws, but the hope is that the presence of a rookie will sharpen focus when it comes to run blocking, route-running and the like.

“Everyone around him has to raise up,” Everett said. “That’s what I experienced as a rookie. Everyone else does their job a little better. Do you want to be the offensive lineman that gets ‘the franchise’ hit? Looking at the other 10 guys on the field, they have to play at 105 percent, instead of 95 or 85.”