Carson Palmer hopes Jared Goff learns from mistakes
Alden Gonzalez
http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/32521/carson-palmer-hopes-jared-goff-learns-from-mistakes
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Few people on this planet relate to Jared Goff the way Carson Palmer does.
The hype, the wait, the struggle — Palmer experienced all of that more than a decade ago.
Palmer was drafted No. 1 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals after a Heisman Trophy-winning season at USC, but sat behind Jon Kitna for his entire rookie season in 2003. When he finally got under center, Palmer played poorly through his first six games, completing 55 percent of his passes while throwing five touchdowns to nine interceptions and winning only twice.
It isn’t much worse than Goff, who sat behind Case Keenum for the first nine games and has struggles over his last six, completing 53.5 percent of his passes, throwing five touchdowns to seven interceptions and failing to capture a single win.
Goff is experiencing this at 22; Palmer was 24.
“When you go through struggles early and bad things happen early, I think it’s so important to learn from them and not bury them away and be disappointed by them,” said Palmer, whose Arizona Cardinals conclude their season against Goff’s Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. “Not that you’re going to be happy with not having success, but use them as learning experiences. Bad throws, bad reads, bad choices. Whatever it is that comes up — losses, struggling on third down in the red zone — all of those things are so important to learn from and improve from.”
Goff was given a Palmer jersey for Christmas when he was about 10 years old.
“He was probably on my fantasy team or something,” Goff said, laughing. “I was big fan of his,” Goff added. “He was good player, and still is. Does a great job with Arizona now and he’s been around the league. I think one of the few quarterbacks that’s gone from multiple teams and has been pretty good with all of them. It’s hard to do, and he’s done a pretty good job of it.”
Palmer made the Pro Bowl in his second season as a starter — third overall — and has been invited three times in his 14-year career, which also included a two-year stint with the Oakland Raiders. Palmer also made three separate trips to the playoffs, won the Comeback Player of the Year award and has the NFL’s seventh-most passing yards since 2004.
He is yet another example of a first-round quarterback who struggled initially and figured it out.
“You look around, a lot of guys ended up being really good that as rookies weren’t very good,” Goff said. “There’s prime examples in the league right now — teams that have turned it around. In reference to us, I kind of expect a similar thing to happen in the future.”
Goff has lost all six of his starts, against the Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, respectively. The first and the last were close games decided on two late drives by the opposing offense. The four in the middle were completely lopsided. And through it all, Goff has sported a 24.6 Total QBR that is the second-worst in the NFL during that time.
“This stuff cannot define him,” Rams offensive coordinator Rob Boras said. “He’s going to define himself over his career.”
Boras brought up Goff’s first year at Cal, when he went 1-11 as a true freshman on a bad team.
“His freshman year at Cal didn’t define him, and his rookie year in the NFL is not going to define him,” Boras said. “I think he’s a real mentally tough guy. I told him wherever I am, I’m going to be the biggest fan of his, and I’ll be cheering for him.”
For the Rams, Sunday’s finale represents an opportunity to give Goff, the 2016 No. 1 overall pick, some positive vibes heading into what will be a crucial offseason.
For Palmer, it’s an opportunity to return to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a place he was “in awe of” while starring at USC and one he “never, ever thought” he would play at again. The last time he played there, Palmer catapulted himself to the first overall pick in 2003. Then he waited, then he struggled — just like Goff.
He hopes Goff learns from it all.
“Even though it’s a loss and it’s hard to watch, watch it over and over and over again and take something from it,” Palmer said. “It’s so easy to sit there and fast forward through it, seeing yourself get sacked or whatever it is that happens. Making sure you file that away in your brain and notebooks and however it is that you study and you go about your business and your studying, using those as opportunities to learn from.”
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