reporters on Rams pick (4/28-29)

Rams start 2016 NFL draft by picking Jared Goff over Carson Wentz

Frank Schwab

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/rams-start-2016-nfl-draft-by-picking-jared-goff-over-carson-wentz-001559196.html

The Rams will begin their second stint in Los Angeles with Goff as their quarterback of the future. They made him the first pick of the draft on Thursday night, choosing him over Wentz. The team made good on its promise and kept the pick mostly a secret right up until NFL commissioner Roger Goodell read the name. There have been plenty of speculative reports leading up to the draft that the pick would be Goff, and that became official shortly after 7 p.m. Chicago time. The Rams couldn’t go into this season in star-studded Los Angeles with Case Keenum at quarterback, and now they have Goff as a cornerstone.

With Goff off the board, the Philadelphia Eagles surprised nobody and picked Wentz second overall. Quarterbacks did not go 1-2 in the NFL draft from 1999-2012, and now it has happened three times in the past five drafts.

Why did the Rams go with Goff over Wentz? None of these decisions come down to one single reason, and there were good arguments for both players, but clearly the Rams felt more comfortable taking Goff at No. 1 after giving up a surprising amount of picks in a trade with the Tennessee Titans to move up to the top spot. It could come down to the comfort level of picking a player from Cal versus picking one from North Dakota State.

Don’t expect to hear that reason in any press conference, because there’s no need for the Rams to downgrade Wentz. But when you give up two first-round, two second-round and two third-round picks to move up to No. 1, it’s scary to then take someone who quarterbacked in the Missouri Valley Conference. The last time a player from a non-FBS school was taken first overall was Ed “Too Tall” Jones in 1974. The Rams, in many ways, went the safe route with Goff.

There’s more to it than where the two quarterbacks played. Many people questioned Wentz in the buildup to the draft, believing he is a project who will need a lot of work. There are questions about Goff too, most notably how he’ll transition from a spread “Air Raid” offense at Cal to a conventional offense in the NFL. There are also questions about Goff’s 14-23 record at Cal, which is the worst ever for a quarterback taken No. 1 since the common draft started in 1967, according to ESPN Stats and Info. Football is a team game and a quarterback doesn’t control his record by himself, but it’s still another question about Goff. There are plenty of positives with Goff as well, like his accuracy and touch from the pocket. The Rams clearly think he can be a star, based on what they gave up to take him.

The Eagles moved up to No. 2 last week in a big trade with the Cleveland Browns, and were stuck waiting to see which quarterback the Rams would take first. Getting Wentz isn’t a bad second option. He’s big, ran a lot of NFL concepts in the North Dakota State offense, and many feel he was the best quarterback in this draft. The Eagles have been looking for a franchise quarterback since Donovan McNabb, and Wentz gives them a shot for one.

The picks are made and the teams have to live with the results. The Rams move into a new Los Angeles era with Goff, and not Wentz, as their quarterback. The Rams better hope that’s not a mistake. They’ll hear about it for a long, long time if it was.”

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NY Times (Goff excerpt)

CHICAGO — “The Los Angeles Rams chose quarterback Jared Goff of California with the first overall pick in the N.F.L. draft, the latest move by a team trying to re-establish itself in Southern California after two decades in St. Louis.

Eager to make a splash in their new home and revive their fading fortunes, the Rams traded a passel of draft picks to acquire the top overall selection from the Tennessee Titans. Without a strong quarterback on their roster, the Rams opted for Goff, widely considered one of the top prospects at that position in the draft.

The Rams have not had a winning season since 2003, and they are eager to begin their second tenure in Southern California, where they played from 1946 to 1994, by becoming competitive in the N.F.C. West, one of the toughest divisions in the N.F.L.

The Rams are betting that Goff, one of 96 underclassmen to enter the draft this year, can make the jump to the N.F.L. He threw for 4,719 yards, 43 touchdowns and 13 interceptions last year in the competitive Pacific-12 Conference. His strong arm and quick release should help him reach the Rams’ collection of middling receivers.

“I’m going to prove them right, let them know they made the right decision,” Goff said.

Many of the picks in the first round were not surprises, although Ohio State dominated, with five of its players taken in the first 20 picks.

Goff’s selection continues a trend toward teams focusing more on their passing game with their top picks. He was the 14th quarterback chosen first over all in the past 19 years. Goff was also the latest underclassman to be chosen first over all, following the likes of Matthew Stafford (2009), Sam Bradford (2010), Andrew Luck (2012) and Jadeveon Clowney (2014).

Last season, quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota were chosen first and second over all in the draft.

In some ways, the Rams mortgaged the future for Goff, who will begin his career playing in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for three seasons until the owner E. Stanley Kroenke completes a nearly $3 billion stadium and retail complex in nearby Inglewood.

The Titans sent their picks from the first, fourth and sixth rounds this year to the Rams. In return, they received the Rams’ first-round pick, their two second-round picks and a third-round pick this year, and their first- and third-round picks next year.

By selecting Goff, the Rams cleared the way for the Philadelphia Eagles, who engineered their own blockbuster trade, to pick a top quarterback of their own.”

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Mayock’s pick-by-pick analysis (instant reaction)

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000656619/article/mike-mayocks-2016-nfl-draft-pickbypick-analysis

1. Los Angeles Rams: Jared Goff, QB, Cal

“He fits what they do. He can play on Day 1. The Rams have a strong running game and stout defense. That minimizes what he has to think about. Goff has a very quick release and gets the ball out of his hands quickly. He has innate pocket awareness, which is so critical at the NFL level.”

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ESPN

http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2016/story/_/id/15386713/nfl-draft-2016-results-tracker-analysis-picks-live-order

“What he brings: Goff is an experienced three-year starter who is one of the most natural passers in this class. He has excellent pocket presence and feels pressure naturally to buy time while going through progressions. Goff shows quality accuracy and touch with the ability to deliver from an uneven platform. He has added weight and that eases concerns about his durability. He might need time adjusting to an NFL playbook coming from a wide-open system. He is one of the top two quarterbacks in this class and has the tools and acumen to develop into an above-average starter.”

from The First 31 and What Each Pick Means

Breaking down the ‘why’ of each of Thursday night’s first-round picks

Andy Benoit

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/04/29/nfl-draft-first-round-breakdown

1. Los Angeles: Jared Goff, QB, California

It’s still surprising the Rams preferred Goff over Carson Wentz—not because Goff isn’t worthy of being a No. 1 pick, but because Wentz would have been such an outstanding stylistic fit for this offense. The Rams are built to be a run-based team. Not only do they have what could be the league’s best running back come season’s end, Todd Gurley, they also have an offensive line packed with high-drafted young maulers.

Left tackle Greg Robinson was the No. 2 overall pick in 2014 and weighs 332 pounds; right guard Jamon Brown (third round in ’15, 323 pounds), right tackle Rob Havenstein (second round in ’15, 321 pounds). And expensive veteran left guard Rodger Saffold was a second-rounder in 2010 and weighs 318.

Factor in a very limited receiving corps, plus the high likelihood of this team drafting a tight end to replace Jared Cook on Friday or early Saturday and it’s clear: The Rams are built to pound the rock. Now, let’s understand something: being a run-based offense does not mean you line up and hand the ball off 40 times a game. What it means is that your commitment to the run goes a little deeper than most teams’ and—this is where the quarterback comes in—that much of your passing game is predicated off your running game.

That means more dropback play-action and downfield deep shots out of heavy max protection concepts. And because so much of running the ball depends on the defensive look—how many men in the box? How deep are the safeties? In what gaps are the defensive linemen?—it means more importance on pre-snap adjustments at the line of scrimmage.

Carson Wentz did all of these things masterfully at North Dakota State. Goff was not asked to do much of them in Cal’s Air Raid offense, where the Bears would so often spread out and snap the ball quickly. This doesn’t mean Goff can’t do them, it just means he’ll have a sharper learning curve.

With this in mind, the Rams must have liked Goff markedly more than they liked Wentz. (And that’s fine; to each his own. Goff has outstanding pocket mobility, a lively enough arm and strong physical measurables.) But if Goff and Wentz had really been that close in Los Angeles’s grade book, the pick would have been Wentz.

2. Philadelphia: Carson Wentz, QB, North Dakota State

If you think Sam Bradford is peeved now, wait for when the end of training camp rolls around and new head coach Doug Pederson names Wentz his starter. If you talk to Wentz and study him closely, you’ll have a very difficult time envisioning him learning from the bench as a rookie. There’d be no point in sitting the 23-year-old.

As Jon Gruden, Mike Mayock, Greg Cosell and countless others inside the NFL have said: This is the most pro-ready QB to enter the league since Andrew Luck. Keep in mind, Bradford has been a middling NFL quarterback and will be learning a mostly new system just like Wentz will. This will begin as an inherently equal QB competition. And all ties would go to the youngster.

Rams draft picks: Analysis for every selection

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/28837/2016-los-angeles-rams-draft-picks-analysis-for-every-selection

LOS ANGELES — Nick Wagoner breaks down the 2016 Los Angeles Rams draft class.

Round 1, Pick No. 1: Jared Goff, QB, California | Highlights

My take: When the Rams made the deal with the Tennessee Titans to move up for either Goff or North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, it was one I wouldn’t have made but understood. This team had reached a point of desperation in its need for a franchise quarterback. They did what they had to do to make it happen. Wentz might have been a better fit for what the Rams want to be offensively but that doesn’t mean Goff can’t succeed in the NFL. The biggest question now is what the Rams will do to add receiving weapons and solidify the offensive line. They want to put Goff in position to get them over the hump so the guys who traded up for him — coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead — will still be employed if and when Goff reaches his potential.

Start or sit? Fisher and Snead have repeatedly said they won’t push any quarterback drafted to play until he’s ready. But it’s naive to think they traded all those picks in order to have Goff sit and watch. Don’t be surprised if Goff follows the plan for what Snead and the Atlanta Falcons did with Matt Ryan in 2008 when Ryan worked with Chris Redman through the third preseason game and then took over as the starter for the regular season.

Who’s on the way out? With Goff in the fold, the Rams now have four quarterbacks on the roster. They won’t carry that many during the season, so someone has to go. Who will that be? All signs point to Nick Foles, the player the Rams traded for and signed in 2015 in hopes that he was the franchise signal-caller they needed. The Rams hope that Foles’ deletion will come via trade. According to a league source, “four or five” teams have already reached out about the possibility of a deal. In all likelihood, a deal will have to wait for the next couple of days as teams select quarterbacks and others miss out on some. Those that miss out could find themselves in the market with a late-round pick the likely compensation.

Jared Goff’s biggest challenge with Rams? Getting back up

Jarrett Bell

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2016/04/29/jared-goff-los-angeles-rams/83732988/

LOS ANGELES — He’s the son of a catcher, which is probably as good of a starting point as any when trying to get a handle on whether Jared Goff will hack it in Tinseltown.

Sure, the new quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams will have to deal with the scrutiny, hype, pressure and distractions that will be presented in a city that is so driven by star power.

Not long after Goff was drafted No. 1 overall on Thursday night, he was on Jimmy Kimmel Live via satellite, getting an earful from the host who suggested some potential new nicknames – like The Fresh Prince of Passing – that illustrated the buzz of this new world he’s entered. After all, Kobe Bryant became a legend here as The Black Mamba.

By the time Goff arrived in California and was formally introduced by the team on Friday, one of the town’s sports superstars, Dodgers slugger Yasiel Puig, had invited to show him around. He’ll accept — even as a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan, having grown up in Northern California.

The potential for glamour for the Rams’ new Golden Boy is now in full effect.

Yet handling all of that — and obviously the Rams brass is convinced that Goff has the demeanor to not let the bright lights of Hollywood go to his head – will hardly represent the make-or-break challenge for the kid.

True grit figures to be the ticket.

What will Goff be when someone punches him in the mouth?

No doubt, he was prepped at Cal, where he built on a reputation for being resilient — mentally and physically. He absorbed a lot of punishment along the way, sacked 81 times in 37 games. Now comes the golden opportunity to play in a league with grown men and better athletes who come even faster and hit harder than anything he’s seen before.

At least he can hand the football to one of the NFL’s most dynamic running backs in Todd Gurley, and Goff stands to benefit from the investments the Rams have made in recent years along the O-line.

Still, part of this deal will be the challenge to prove his rep for resiliency all over again.

“He has a real toughness about him,” Rams general manager Les Snead told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s in his DNA.”

Jared’s father, Jerry, played six seasons behind the plate in the major leagues. Jerry Goff was hardly a star, but he was accomplished in his own right that allows him a certain understanding of the less glamorous aspects of his son’s job.

“Behind the plate, we used to get crushed, beat up,” the elder Goff, 52, told USA TODAY Sports. “People slide into you. Foul balls. As a quarterback, you get drilled.”

When Jared was at Marin (Calif.) Catholic High and early during his college career, Jerry would watch football like a lot of fans. Once the football left the quarterback’s hand, he would follow the flight of the ball. At some point, though, he changed his viewing habits and kept his eyes trained on his kid.

“I wanted to see whether he’d get back up,” Jerry said.

He almost always got up. The biggest fear for Jerry came at the end of Jared’s 1-11 freshman year, during which his son was floored by a separated shoulder.

At 6-4, 215, Goff isn’t the most physically imposing kid, but the looks may be a bit deceiving. As much as his accuracy, smooth mobility and deft grasp of the X’s and O’s mark his game, the blue-collar component may ultimately determine his stature in a place where they recognize the luminaries of the entertainment industry by putting a star on the sidewalk.

It certainly takes brainpower, talent and instincts to succeed at quarterback. But it also takes courage, intestinal fortitude and physical resilience to allow all of the elements to flourish.

Snead has a term for it.

“I call it the central nervous system of a quarterback,” he said. “That’s mental, working with the physical. Because you get hit and you’re saying, ‘My ribs are hurting,’ and your brain is saying, ‘I don’t care. You still have to get off the mat.’ “

Goff said Friday that he figures he’ll earn the respect of his new teammates with his work ethic, which is what his father keeps preaching to this day.

On top of that, though, nothing earns stripes in an NFL locker room like toughness.

In the land of glitz, that may be the real foundation for all of the glamour that awaits.