John Clayton & others: how soon will Goff be ready to start

my hope is that goff is so freaking good that fisher has no choice but to start him from the first week. wishful thinking i know.

Expectations will be high as Los Angeles Rams rookie Jared Goff makes transition to NFL

Sam Farmer

http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-nfl-rookie-quarterbacks-20160510-story.html

Before he moves forward as Rams quarterback, Jared Goff needs to move backward. Again and again.

The No. 1 pick in last month’s NFL draft is making the transition from a spread to a pro-style offense, taking snaps from under center for the first time since his freshman year in high school. It’s a fairly common transformation these days — fellow first-round pick Paxton Lynch faces a similar learning curve with the Denver Broncos — but it’s more complicated than meets the eye.

“Passing the football is rhythm and timing,” Rams quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke said during a rookie mini-camp last week. “When I’m under center, that rhythm and timing is different than when I’m in the [shot]gun. If I haven’t done it since I was 14 years old, and now I come to this level with the speed of the game, there’s a transition.

“We felt like this kid has the mental capacity to pick it up, the physical ability to be able to make the transition, and we saw it today. We had a walk-through earlier, and from that walk-through to the second walk-through he got better. So there’s growth on Day 1, and that’s what we truly believed in when we drafted the guy.”

The Rams say they won’t play Goff until he’s absolutely ready to step into the job and that they’ve got a sturdy bridge player in quarterback Case Keenum, who has won NFL games. But the reality is, the days of sitting a high-drafted rookie the way the Philadelphia Eagles did with Donovan McNabb, the San Diego Chargers did with Philip Rivers or the Green Bay Packers did with Aaron Rodgers are distant memories.

The expectation is a first-round rookie steps in and plays right away, especially one that cost so much in terms of draft picks, the Rams making an unprecedented trade up from No. 15.

Goff is not alone in that category. Carson Wentz, the No. 2 pick, is shouldering the same expectations in Philadelphia, as is Lynch in Denver. Second-round pick Christian Hackenberg is in the spotlight with the New York Jets, even as the expectations are that the club will eventually work through its contractual impasse with Ryan Fitzpatrick.

And the stage is set for a quarterback competition in Cleveland, which took USC’s Cody Kessler in the third round. Although many evaluators think that taking Kessler that early was a reach and that he’s best suited to be a No. 3 and work his way up, the Browns seem to be more comfortable inserting him sooner. Cleveland, which has had 24 starting quarterbacks since re-launching as an expansion franchise in 1999, signed Robert Griffin III in March.

“If there’s a team that has a 15-year vet or if there’s an open competition, I’m treating it as if I’m the starter,” Kessler told reporters last week. “I’m going to come in there and compete for a spot, but I’m not going to be arrogant.”

It used to be that young quarterbacks sat, sometimes for years, and learned at the elbow of reliable veterans. A seismic shift happened in 2008, when the Atlanta Falcons took Matt Ryan with the third pick, the Baltimore Ravens took Joe Flacco with the 18th and both quarterbacks not only started their entire rookie seasons but also reached the playoffs. No rookie quarterback had done that before. (Peyton Manning was the Day 1 starter for the Indianapolis Colts a decade earlier, for instance, but the Colts went 3-13 during his rookie season.)

Since Ryan and Flacco entered the league, at least one rookie quarterback has started his team’s opener, among them the Detroit Lions’ Matthew Stafford, the Colts’ Andrew Luck, the Oakland Raiders’ Derek Carr and last year’s Nos. 1 and 2 picks, Jameis Winston of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Marcus Mariota of the Tennessee Titans.

Rams General Manager Les Snead was a scout in Atlanta when the Falcons drafted Ryan and said the team started him only because he was ready to go, not because of external pressure to do so.

However, Snead said the league could be in a “swing cycle” back to the time when it was OK to sit a rookie quarterback for a while because of what he sees as a widening gap in styles between NFL and college offenses.

“It’s still relatively simple to go and pick out, ‘That guy has the traits to play in the NFL and be successful,’ ” Snead said. “What’s getting harder is, how long is it going to take that guy — whether he’s a wide receiver, an offensive lineman, or a quarterback — to be ready? You’ve got to learn to take a snap for the first time, even if that seems odd. Learn to call a protection, learn multiple cadences. We all know that while you’re learning something, you’re a little slower. So the key is, don’t put the guy out while he’s still a little slower while he’s learning it.”

Former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, who led the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl victory, said the act of dropping back to pass is more complex than most people realize. A quarterback’s drop meshes with the route timing of his receivers, so a passer will know by his own feet where his receivers are at any given point.

“The hard part is developing that timing when you’re in shotgun and you’re not taking a drop,” said Warner, now an NFL Network analyst. “That to me is the hardest part. I think all of these quarterbacks can develop an ability to drop back and throw from under center. But there’s no question when you’re learning a million different things and trying to get acclimated with the speed, the last thing you want to have to work on is being able to take a center snap and drop back five yards and think about that aspect of things, when you really want to be thinking about just the mental side of playing this game.”

Sonny Dykes, Goff’s coach at California, said the transition could be easier for Golden Bears quarterbacks, who are asked to make sophisticated reads of a defense.

“What I think gives our guys a chance at the next level is … we do a lot of full-field reading,” Dykes said. “So Jared, a lot of times it’s based on, ‘If this guy does this, you do this.’ We asked him to read pre-snap and before the snap decide, ‘I’m throwing it here.’ We also ask him to read one specific guy, a half-field read. ‘OK, if this guy does this, throw it to this guy.’ We also ask for full-field reads, where he drops back and may start to the left, and he’s going to progress all the way through his reads and get to his fourth or fifth read.

“Just what they’d ask [in the NFL]. I don’t know what else they’d ask a guy to do.”

Dykes has no concerns about Goff making the under-center transition quickly and seamlessly.

“Sure, there’s some footwork things involved,” he said. “If you were talking about a guy here that had slow feet or wasn’t good in the pocket, I could see where you could say he’d have a hard time adjusting. But we’re talking about a guy here that’s got as good a feet as anybody I’ve ever seen. That’s what makes him unique.”

. Steadily bringing along your new franchise quarterback, a la Aaron Rodgers, is a nice idea. But in today’s NFL, with quarterbacks at a premium and job security so rare, it’s not exactly a realistic one.

I don’t see the reasoning there. “Aaron Rodgers” who sat for a couple of year is not the only alternative to starting week one.

I personally don’t care when he starts…but I imagine it would be in the first half of the season. I also don’t think it matters that much. I don’t think job security is an issue, I think Keenum has enough to do fine for however long it is, and I trust the coaches on this one.

Bradford started immediately, and in some ways had more to learn about pro offenses than Goff does. But then in 2010 the Rams had the league’s 3rd easiest schedule v. now when they have one of the toughest schedules in a competitive division with a couple of great defenses.

To me this isn’t controversial. I don’t see any critical need for urgency, and I don’t think my own impatience translates into good football reasons.

Rams will be patient, but Jared Goff likely to start sooner than later

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/29179/rams-will-be-patient-but-jared-goff-likely-to-start-sooner-than-later

LOS ANGELES — The best-laid plans of NFL teams can change at the drop of a hat. Or, perhaps in the case of the Los Angeles Rams, at the cost of a move from No. 15 to No. 1 in the 2016 draft.

Soon after making their move up the draft board, the Rams’ biggest decision was whether to take Cal quarterback Jared Goff or North Dakota State signal-caller Carson Wentz. Now, the biggest question facing Goff and the Rams isn’t who but when.

As in when will Goff take over as starting quarterback for a team that finished at the bottom of the league in most major passing categories a year ago?

History shows there’s not necessarily a right or wrong approach to throwing a top pick into fire. More often than not, such choices have proved dependent almost solely on the individual.

Rams coach Jeff Fisher knows a thing or two about handling such situations. The then-Houston Oilers drafted Steve McNair, the best quarterback Fisher ever coached, with the third pick in 1995. McNair promptly went to the bench, making only brief cameos before taking over full time as the starter in 1997.

“Steve did play under center his junior year in a pro-style system and then got in the shotgun his senior year,” Fisher said. “We were very patient with him and he was asked numerous times, ‘When are you going to play?’ and it’s the same thing that Jared said, ‘When the coaches say I’m ready for it.’ I think we handled it well. We’re not going to follow that same model because he’s got a different skill set than Steve.”

The model the Rams will follow is more likely one taken from a page in general manager Les Snead’s history. As one of the key personnel evaluators for the Atlanta Falcons, Snead was part of the group that drafted quarterback Matt Ryan in 2008. The Falcons insisted Chris Redman would be their starter until Ryan was ready. As it turned out, Ryan was ready around Week 3 of the preseason and went on to start 16 games as a rookie. The same was true of Joe Flacco in Baltimore.

In fact, over the past eight years there has been a growing trend of quarterbacks who were taken early starting right away. In addition to Flacco and Ryan, Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford, Cam Newton, Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota were all Week 1 starters in their first season.

The lone exception among top signal-callers taken recently was Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles, who sat the first two games and part of a third before playing and becoming the starter.

Of course, that list of quarterbacks has produced varying levels of success.

“Well everybody is different,” Fisher said. “Jameis is different than the next quarterback. We have always had the philosophy that we are going to play them when we think they are ready. We aren’t going to subject them to fail, so whenever that is you are going to see him under center. We aren’t going to come out Day 1 and announce that he is a starter. It’s going to happen pretty soon, sooner than probably later.”

For Goff, learning the offense won’t be easy as he transitions from Cal’s “Bear Raid” spread system to a more pro-style offense. The Rams will help him by adding some concepts he’s comfortable with, and they view Goff as a quick study based on what they’ve already seen.

At last weekend’s rookie orientation, Fisher was walking through the team’s temporary Oxnard meeting areas when he encountered Goff leaving the quarterback room at 10 p.m., long after the day’s scheduled meetings were done.

“He’s a guy that understands priorities,” Fisher said. “He knows how to budget his time and where to spend his time. It’ll change a little bit. We’ll get him some information this week so he can stay up as we continue to install. He’s handled everything. As I’ve mentioned before, he’s got that internal, competitive drive that you don’t see. He doesn’t wear it on his sleeve. He’s going to make sure that everything’s right.”

For his part, Goff has acknowledged that he’d like to play right away but also has said he’s proving himself to the coaches and leaving the decision in their hands. Upon getting his first taste of the Rams’ playbook, Goff said there were things, especially in the shotgun, that translate from college.

The difficult thing for Goff is adjusting to playing under center more and learning the terminology.

“The way they say it, and they’re absolutely right, it’s almost like you’re learning a different language,” Goff said. “It’s from any system you come from in college – it doesn’t really matter. It’s like you’re going into Spanish class and you have to become fluent in Spanish over however long the time is. That’s kind of what it is.”

There’s plenty of time for Goff to get up to speed between now and the season opener on Sept. 12. The Rams have Case Keenum in place to offer competition,but it’s unlikely anyone but Goff will start that game against San Francisco.

“I always thought when you invest that much, unless you have Brett Favre sitting on your team, I think you have got to play him,” former NFL coach Rick Venturi said. “I have always believed that. You learn by doing and the only thing you learn sitting is you learn how to sit.”

Even Fisher, who won’t make any sweeping declarations before he absolutely has to, has dropped plenty of hints that it won’t take long for Goff to take over.

“He may start the opener on Monday night, we don’t know, but that’s the goal,” Fisher said.

It would be a surprise if that’s a goal the Rams and Goff don’t accomplish.

Recent history bodes well for Rams, Jared Goff

Vincent Bonsignore

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160511/bonsignore-recent-history-bodes-well-for-rams-jared-goff

A month or so before the Rams moved from the 15th spot in the first round of the NFL Draft to the first pick overall and before any discussion about starting the season with a rookie quarterback behind center, Rams general manager Les Snead opened a wide window to both possibilities.

The Rams, Snead explained during a break at the NFL owners meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., had already begun canvassing some of the teams drafting ahead of them about the possibility of swapping picks.

The target, obviously, was Cal quarterback Jared Goff, whom the Rams selected with the first pick overall after working a blockbuster deal with the Tennessee Titans and perching themselves atop the draft.

After surrendering five picks to acquire Goff, including next year’s No. 1 and No. 3, conventional wisdom would suggest the Rams are in a hurry to anoint him their starter.

Perhaps even in time for the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers.

Two months ago in Florida, though, Snead explained the folly of creating some artificial timeline to get a rookie quarterback onto the field.

“Because if you do draft someone and say: ‘He has to play by this date,’ it’s kind of like a false deadline,” Snead said “How do we even know that deal?”

In other words, slow your roll.

But then Snead told a fascinating story that bore an uncanny resemblance to the Goff addition to the Rams quarterback room,

And why Goff unseating Case Keenum as the Rams starting quarterback is more probable then unlikely.

GOFF SHOULD START SEASON OPENER

In 2007, Snead was working for the Atlanta Falcons when backup quarterback Chris Redman came off the bench late in the season and played well enough to earn a two-year contract and be installed as the starter for the 2008 season.

The connection to Keenum was obvious. Much like Redman did for the Falcons nine years ago, Keenum stabilized the Rams’ quarterback position by going 3-1 over the final four games of 2015. The Rams were impressed enough to re-sign Keenum and declare him the starting quarterback going into training camp.

But as Snead also explained, the Falcons used the third pick of the 2008 draft to select Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan. Much like the Rams have done with Goff, the Falcons immediately said Ryan would play only when he proved he was ready.

Which, as it turns out, didn’t take long at all.

“Lo and behold, after the third preseason game, we were like … he’s ready,” Snead said.

That doesn’t mean Goff will take the field as the starter Sept. 12 in Santa Clara when the Rams open the season against the 49ers. That’s on him at this point.

GOFF REPORTS FOR DUTY AT ROOKIE CAMP

But as history has shown with rookie quarterbacks, some of it directly related to the Rams current leadership, Goff will be given every opportunity to do exactly that.

“We will do what’s right to develop him so he’s ready when he goes on the field on Sunday,” Snead said.

Count on it being much sooner rather than later.

A recent trend has developed in the NFL in which young quarterbacks are being pressed into starting duty almost immediately.

Last year the top two picks in the draft, Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston and Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota, won the starting job for their teams in training camp. Before them, first-round picks Ryan, Joe Flacco (Ravens) Mark Sanchez (Jets) Matthew Stafford (Lions), Robert Griffin III (Redskins), Sam Bradford (Rams), Andrew Luck (Colts), Cam Newton (Panthers) and third-round pick Russell Wilson (Seahawks) all began their rookie years as their team’s starter.

Ryan, Flacco, Winston, Mariota, Stafford, Luck, Newton and Wilson all remain the starting quarterbacks for their original clubs.

Wilson has led the Seahawks to two Super Bowls, winning the 2013 title. Flacco won a Super Bowl with the Ravens in 2012. Newton led the Panthers to last year’s Super Bowl and Ryan, Luck and Stafford have all been to the playoffs.

That’s a pretty strong recent track record, which is why the Rams are clearly open and plenty motivated to follow a similar blueprint.

But they also won’t force it.

“We have always had the philosophy that we are going to play them when we think they are ready,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “We aren’t going to subject them to fail, so whenever that is, you are going to see him under center. We aren’t going to come out Day 1 and announce that he is a starter. It’s going to happen pretty soon, sooner than probably later. We have some things to do coaching-wise. He’s got to learn our offense, he’s got to get to know his teammates, get in sync with his receivers. So when that happens, I don’t know, but that has always been our philosophy.”

It should also be noted Goff is coming to a unique situation. In fact, relative to the roster Goff is joining, Wilson is the best comparison. And that should bode well for Goff.

Winston, Mariota, Stafford, Luck and Newton were all drafted by teams that earned their picks atop their respective drafts.

To put it bluntly, the Buccaneers, Titans, Lions, Colts and Panthers were all terrible.

Wilson, on the other hand, was drafted in the third round by a Seahawks team coming off a two consecutive 7-9 seasons and whose roster had been completely turned over by Pete Carroll.

Much like the Rams right now, the Seahawks were solid and sound across the board in 2012.

They just lacked a quality quarterback to elevate them from just OK to very good.

With Wilson behind center, the Seahawks went 11-5 and were a late field goal away from reaching the NFC Championship game in 2012, followed by a 13-3 finish and a Super Bowl championship in 2013.

That isn’t to say the Goff will guide the Rams to the Super Bowl in two years.

But he walks into a similar situation.

And as recent history shows, the Rams will give him every chance to walk onto the field in the season opener as their starting quarterback.