informal poll: Goff not starting, being #3 – disaster? not concerned?

I don’t think the Rams coaches are bad.

I think the expectations for Goff are too high. But, whether that is true or not, it is certainly true that he has a lot to learn to be NFL ready. More than he could learn in one preseason. imo

I do think he will start some games this season.

Mildly disappointed, but not concerned yet. He showed the kind of flashes you want to see in a big-talent. Looks to be just mental-processing issues at this point.

Woulda been nice if he coulda had an RG3-type first year. Ah well.

We will rally behind Case Keenum — and Donald and Quinn — and the Rams will play
good football.

w
v

Not concerned at all. I think they’ll fly ok with Captain Keenum, and Goff will play when the coaches feel he is ready. Fisher has said all along that starting in game 1 was not a given for Goff.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by NERam.

Zooey,

That’s an interesting take. Especially on his age. I know you don’t mean his actual age, but his maturity, etc. etc. But he’s also pretty young for a rookie QB. He turns 22 next month. Most rookie QBs are 23 or 24. In effect, he’s still a Junior or Senior in college.

That youth can be a plus, of course. It means he’s likely gotta coupla extra years of peak physicality for the Rams on the back end of things. But on the front end, it may mean he’s less ready than an older QB. Perhaps.

For most positions on the field, I strongly prefer drafting the younger guys, the players who come out at 21 or 22. Gurley, for example, was only 21 as a rook. That’s generally big plus for me. If the Rams can keep him, you can basically add on three seasons of peak performance, compared to a large number of other draftees.

Anyway . . . . maturity. He does seem like a pup so far. Nice guy, if Hard Knocks is any kind of indication. But a pup.

i’d be lying if i said i wasn’t completely without concern.

there’s a little bit of doubt in my mind creeping in. and now with this bradford trade that worry picks up a little.

but i also don’t want them to rush goff if he isn’t ready.

Disappointed and moderately concerned about what seemed like a lack of progress from the first preseason game to the last preseason game.

Winnbrad wrote:

Not worried at all.

12 months from now, if Goff still looks this bad, then yes I’m worried.

———-

I gotta feeling 12 months from now, the Rams will have a
No.1 WR for him to throw to, which should help.

One would think thats the no.1 need at this point,
anyway.

w
v

wv wrote:

Winnbrad wrote:

Not worried at all.

12 months from now, if Goff still looks this bad, then yes I’m worried.

———-

I gotta feeling 12 months from now, the Rams will have a
No.1 WR for him to throw to, which should help.

One would think thats the no.1 need at this point,
anyway.

w
v

_______________________________________________

I’m with you there. We really need that #1 WR for this O to step up.

One thing that Snead said in an interview a few months back is that the mistake the Rams made organizationally is that they handed Foles the starting job last year and didn’t make him earn it. I felt like this would lead to Goff having to “earn” his way into the starting line-up. Several intervening factors have delayed that transition, but make no mistake that day is still coming.

First, one has to concede that Case Keenum has played pretty well in the preseason. Not “house-on-fire” kind of play, but steady, consistent, and with a fair amount of success. Had Keenum played poorly in the preseason, I think that the situation would have been much different.

I do not care about Dak Prescott or Carson Wentz starting week one. I do not think either of those players would have been starting for the Rams week 1, and I think Jared Goff would have been starting for both the Eagles and Cowboys week 1. Different team philosophies. The Eagles are so ready to justify their selection that they are starting Wentz over Chase Daniel even though Daniel probably gives them a much greater chance to win.

Many, if not all, of the so-called media experts said that Goff and Wentz would need to sit and learn early on. If you don’t believe me, go back and read the scouting reports. Yet, there is now panic at the disco when Goff is not starting week 1. I am actually relieved that the Rams had the courage and conviction to sit Goff until he is ready. And Fisher said that Goff will start when he is ready. I believe allowing him to sit will be the best thing long term for his career.

This also shows a certain attitude by Fisher that he is still coaching with a long view. The Rams again have the youngest team. The star QB that they packaged a bunch of picks for is put on ice for a while. A veterans like Ayers is jettison for a couple of raw and unheralded rookies. This is a long term approach.

Back to Goff, there was a scene in Hard Knocks where Goff is getting the play relayed into his helmet, and he needs to spit it out right then to the huddle. The play sounds like an 18 word random phrase generator, and Goff calls the play but messes up part of the middle section of the play. A confused offense breaks the huddle, but soon everyone just stops and Boras goes over to Goff and asked him what he called. A frustrated and embarrassed Goff replies, “I’m not sure.” It is not the physical part of being a QB that is holding Goff back, its the mental part. In the same episode, you see Keenum in the kitchen with his wife going over play calls, just going over repeating the plays. You get a sense for what seems like an impossible task, and Keenum was here last year and the whole spring. The Rams have repeatedly said that Goff is working hard, but it just takes some time. When he is ready, he will start.

Lastly, I wonder how Goff would have looked starting with the 1s and with Gurley, instead of the 2s with a bunch of rookie wide receivers. The one time he had Britt to throw to, he went right down the field and scored a touchdown. Against the Broncos and the Vikings, Goff was continuously and repeatedly in third and 8 or 9, and few QBs can operate successfully in that situation.

When he does start, it will be with a firm grasp of the offense and then its going to be sink or swim for good with Goff. Until then, the Rams want to see how well Keenum plays and if he can hold the fort until Goff is ready. Barring something crazy, I think Goff starts game 4 or 5 regardless of how the Rams are doing, and Goff will finish the year and get better and better each game.

Isiah 58

if he’s still inactive week 8 i’ll be worried.

it’s probably true that the rams aren’t as bad off as most teams with the number one pick in the draft.

the one plus about all this is it just buys time for goff to really get into the playbook and learn this offense. no outside worries of preparing for the opposing team. or at least not as much. all he’s got to do at this point is worry about learning the terminology, learning the concepts, learning the protections, and the adjustments.

this could be really good for him.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by InvaderRam.