Top 1-2 QB draft duo? It’s Goff-Wentz — so far

Kevin Seifert

This Sunday’s matchup between Jared Goff and Carson Wentz — oh, and the rest of their teams — represents a rarity in NFL history. The pair is one of only seven quarterback duos to be drafted No. 1 and 2 during the common draft era (since 1967), and in no other instance have both experienced this degree of success so soon — if at all.

As the playoff push accelerates, Goff has the Los Angeles Rams (9-3) atop the NFC West. Wentz’s Philadelphia Eagles (10-2) can clinch the NFC East as early as this week. Both rank among the NFL’s top 11 in passing yards and touchdowns, and if Wentz wins the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award — he finished second in the latest edition of our MVP Poll — he would join Peyton Manning as the only quarterback drafted No. 1 or 2 in the common era to receive that honor. Manning, though, didn’t win his first of five MVPs until his sixth season.

Goff’s and Wentz’s success stands out in particular to the mostly desultory history of quarterbacks taken at the top of drafts. None have made the Hall of Fame, although Manning is a lock when he is eligible in 2021, and at least four can safely be called busts. You’ll find that the early success of Goff and Wentz already stands apart from their predecessors, though that history shouldn’t be stunning given the general ineptitude of teams typically at the top of the draft.

What follows is an attempt to rank the six previous duos, using balanced success as the primary category. (Pro Football Reference provides an amazing database for this type of information.)

1. Jim Plunkett and Archie Manning: 1971

By Year 2: The New England Patriots went 9-20 in 1971-72 with Plunkett as their starter. He threw 41 interceptions over that span. Manning’s New Orleans Saints were 5-16-3 in his starts as he was sacked a league-high 83 times in 26 total games.

Overall: Manning became a two-time Pro Bowl player for a Saints franchise that never managed a winning record during his 11-year tenure. When he retired in 1984, after stops in Houston and Minnesota, his career total of 23,911 passing yards ranked No. 7 in NFL history. Plunkett, meanwhile, found career success with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, leading them to victories in Super Bowls XV and XVII. Plunkett and Manning represent the only duo on this list that both developed into long-term starters for any franchise.

Rick Mirer landed in Chicago after four years in Seattle while Drew Bledsoe started eight full seasons in New England before being unseated by Tom Brady after suffering an injury early in his ninth year. Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
2. Drew Bledsoe and Rick Mirer: 1993

By Year 2: Bledsoe led the NFL with 4,555 passing yards in 1994 for the Patriots and was named to the Pro Bowl. Mirer was less established, but still managed to start 29 of the Seattle Seahawks’ 32 games, during which the team compiled an 11-18 record.

Overall: Bledsoe was a four-time Pro Bowl player over his 14-year career that included stints with three teams. He was famously unseated as the Patriots’ starter by Tom Brady in 2001, but when he retired after the 2006 season, Bledsoe’s 44,611 passing yards ranked No. 6 in NFL history. The Seahawks gave up on Mirer after four seasons as their primary quarterback. They were 20-31 in games he started. Mirer made stops in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Oakland before retiring in 2004. If anything, however, a 12-year career span stands out relative to this list.

3. Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III: 2012

By Year 2: Both players were instant sensations. Luck earned Pro Bowl honors in each of his first two seasons, leading the Indianapolis Colts to a pair of playoff appearances. Griffin was arguably better than Luck in their rookie year — he was named Offensive Rookie of the Year — throwing 20 touchdown passes and rushing for 815 yards to lead the Washington Redskins to a rare playoff appearance.

Overall: Neither has played in 2017. Griffin’s football world crashed after his magical rookie season and Luck’s career has been derailed by three years of injuries. Griffin rushed his return from knee surgery in 2013 and hasn’t played since an aborted run as the Cleveland Browns’ 2016 starter, in which he started only five games in total. Luck missed nine games in 2015, was less effective last season and will miss the 2017 season. While there is optimism that Luck can return to previous form in 2018, Griffin’s career is presumed to be over after 40 career starts.

4. Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota: 2015

By Year 2: Both players had winning records in their starts by the end of their second year. Mariota (8-7) threw 26 touchdown passes to have the Tennessee Titans in playoff contention. Winston (9-7) threw for more than 4,000 yards in each of his first two seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Overall: The trajectory has straightened in Year 3. Although the Titans are 8-3 and atop the AFC South, Mariota has struggled with interceptions, throwing 12 against 10 touchdowns in 11 starts. Winston has navigated a shoulder injury and the Buccaneers are just 2-7 in his starts. Their teams remain firmly committed to them as starters, but it’s undeniable that Winston and Mariota have stepped backward during a season in which there was hope they would break through as elite-level passers.

5. Tim Couch and Donovan McNabb: 1999

By Year 2: Couch lost 17 of his first 21 starts with the Browns and missed nine games in his second year because of a broken thumb. McNabb fared much better, making the 2000 Pro Bowl in his first full season as a starter for the Eagles.

Overall: Couch’s career was derailed by injuries and ended after the 2004 season. He did help lead the Browns to the playoffs in 2002, their only appearance in the past 19 years, but backup Kelly Holcomb started that game. Couch’s injuries and ultimate failure kicked off what has been a disastrous return to the NFL for the franchise. McNabb, on the other hand, was the Eagles’ starter for a decade. He earned six trips to the Pro Bowl, took them to five NFC championship games and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIX. He was by far the best of a 1999 quarterback class that included five first-round draft picks.

6. Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf: 1998

By Year 2: The diametric contrast between the two players had already emerged. Manning rebounded from a 28-interception rookie season to throw for 4,135 yards and make the Pro Bowl for the Colts in 1999. Leaf followed a disastrous rookie season — two touchdown passes and 15 interceptions with the San Diego Chargers — by missing all of 1999 with a shoulder injury.

Overall: This story has been well told. Manning was one of the best players in NFL history, a five-time MVP and two-time Super Bowl champion. Leaf was one of the NFL’s all-time flameouts. He returned to the Chargers in 2000, but struggled once again, throwing 18 interceptions in 11 games and endearing himself to no one with a surly personality. He parted ways with the Chargers after the season and threw his last NFL pass a year later for the Dallas Cowboys. The Colts’ decision to choose Manning over Leaf, which was hotly debated at the time, proved one of the most fortuitous choices in league history. While Manning is the best player on the list, Leaf was the worst. When judging by class balance, this one deserves bottom billing.

The story behind Jared Goff’s sophomore success

Tim Keown

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21706760/los-angeles-rams-qb-jared-goff-leading-comeback-ages

This is going to be his moment, and his alone. He doesn’t know it right now, because right now he is doing what he always does, standing a few yards behind the center and making sure everyone lines up around him in the formation he commanded seconds before. You’ll figure this out soon enough, so there’s no narrative reason to hide the outcome: This play will end in a touchdown. The suspense isn’t in the result but in the path Jared Goff takes to create it.

The play, a second-and-goal from the 7, starts with 4:29 left in the second quarter of Week 12, with the Rams leading the Saints 10-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Goff has relayed the words that coach Sean McVay has spoken into his helmet, but as the play clock ticks down, McVay’s double-reed automatic-fire voice cuts out like a dropped call, a casualty of the NFL’s mandate that shuts down in-helmet communication for the final 15 seconds of the clock. That’s when Goff senses a problem: The Saints look as if they’re going to sink eight into coverage and rush three. The assigned play — a quick-hit slant — simply won’t work, not with so many bodies clogging passing lanes.

Goff takes a couple of steps toward the line and leans forward to shout a few words that mean something only to the men who share his uniform. Sometimes he shouts “Ric Flair!” and other times “Obama!” or “Tupac!” This time, whatever he says seems to make sense, because the linemen turn their helmets toward him and immediately back to their opponents in a choreographed wave.

He backpedals into position and stands up tall as he scans the Saints’ secondary like he’s trying to decide between cereals on a shelf. The clock is ticking down, and yet he’s in no particular hurry, which provides the opportunity to note that everything he does emanates from a demeanor that can occasionally be mistaken for disinterest. “Totally, totally unflappable,” center Jeff Sullivan says. “Never seen him flustered.”

As the play clock hits one, Sullivan sends the ball flying toward Goff’s outstretched hands. Three Saints begin a cautious pass rush and eight fall into coverage as Goff’s feet chop right, then center, then left, his body staying square, as if neck, shoulders, hips and knees work on the same axis. He’s not particularly fast, or even elusive, but he conducts the pocket like a cutting horse, making it appear that he’s herding thousands of pounds of human rather than avoiding them.

As the bodies recede around him, leaving him to cavort in the world’s largest pocket, he looks like an assertive, confident young man. This vision, and the sudden expectation that something good is about to happen, takes a moment to compute. Is this self-assured quarterback really Jared Goff, and is this routinely prolific 2017 team really the Rams? Bend your brain to the new reality: The malignant perception of a year ago — Goff as the slouchy, skinny and overwhelmed No. 1 pick of a doomed franchise-requires serious reconsideration.

Jared Goff’s sophomore season has been sensational — his 36.4-point increase in Total QBR is second-best in the NFL. Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
The arc of a quarterback’s career is supposed to travel a predictable path. A great one, with a few exceptions, is always great. A good one improves gradually, fighting through the mythology of the position to become his best Andy Dalton or Kirk Cousins. A bust, sadly, is always a bust.

So what do we make of a guy who doesn’t seep from one category to another but jumps it before anybody can see him coming? After being picked first in the 2016 draft, Goff started the final seven games of his rookie season — which included the final four games of Jeff Fisher’s 31-45-1 run as Rams coach — and lost all seven. It was seen as only mildly exonerating that his seven bad games happened when he was 22, starting his first real job, doing it in front of a skeptical and mostly uncaring city while working for an inflexible coach in a dysfunctional workplace. No, a bust is a bust-such is the durability of the label.

Thirteen weeks and nine wins into year two, Goff responds to the slight with his default response: a shrug.

“I’m not the first guy to play seven games and not win,” he says. “It’s not the first time in the history of football. Last year didn’t go according to plan, so it’s made out to be that this year is some sort of revival. I don’t see it that way. It’s more me just being myself again, getting back to what I know and what I’m used to doing.”

In the offseason, Rams general manager Les Snead reupholstered the NFL’s 32nd-ranked offense by hiring McVay, landing receivers Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, drafting the NFL’s most productive rookie receiver in Cooper Kupp and strengthening the offensive line by signing Sullivan and tackle Andrew Whitworth. Surrounded by more talent and more assured in his role, Goff has become the first Rams 3,000-yard passer since Sam Bradford while leading the team to a 9-3 record and a one-game lead over Seattle in the NFC West heading into Week 14.

Those seven games, though, hang over him like a cartoon anvil. He must explain this year and defend last year at the same time, over and over. To adequately praise this year, last year must first be exhumed.

“A lot of people had written him off after seven games with that offense last year,” says Adam Dedeaux, a quarterbacks coach who’s worked with Tom Brady and Matt Ryan and who conducted more than 30 sessions with Goff this offseason. “The biggest thing I hope will come out of last season is that people will be a little less eager to call someone a bust. Hopefully people will say, ‘We were quick to judge, and he came back the second year and killed it.'”

But the temptation to fashion an alternative reality — to hear hoofbeats and conclude zebras rather than horses — is apparently too strong to resist. And the NFL, as much as any other American institution, exalts patriarchy, whether it’s an elderly owner or a 31-year-old boy wonder head coach.

So after it became known through the cameras and microphones of NFL Films that McVay sometimes pushes tempo by getting his offense to the line early enough to help Goff read defenses through the magic of the helmet speaker, a much tidier explanation for Goff’s success emerged: The virtuosity of McVay’s brain must be the reason his quarterback no longer looks like a bust. And so it was decreed that McVay deserves the credit, because sometimes it’s easier to push credit in another direction than to reassess facts.

McVay speaks without commas, the words and sentences and paragraphs racing for the safety of open air. He’s the youngest head coach in the NFL, a fact that will be mentioned immediately before or after his name until the day someone younger is hired. He is small and fit, perhaps the only head coach who can jump into individual drills and backpedal fast enough to give Watkins — running at about three-quarter speed, but still — a semi-legitimate approximation of a defensive back. As McVay speaks, you can catch a hint of early-onset coach voice. The gravel is building on the backbeat, and you can already hear what he’s going to sound like as an old man.

But McVay’s most observable trait is his recall of plays — no, not plays, exactly, but the grainy elements that comprise the broader concept of a play, and maybe even some of the grainier elements encased within those grainy elements. “He could eliminate a lot of people’s worries about his age if they just sat with him,” says Whitworth, who is four years older than his coach. “Age is irrelevant when you listen to him.”

His ability to rattle off details about max drop 8s and man beaters and three-man rushes with loaded zones is not just impressive but, frankly, borderline disturbing, though McVay laughs off the suggestion that he possesses a photographic memory. “I probably don’t have any room in my mind for anything but football. My dad tells me I’m a total vegetable outside of just knowing football.”

On the day he interviewed to be the Rams’ coach, McVay mentioned how much he would love to sit down and speak with Goff. Snead, who had already determined that McVay was probably getting the job, arranged for Goff to drive up the coast from Orange County to Marina del Rey for a meeting the following day.

To prepare, McVay went to his room and cut a tape of Goff’s 2016 season. He made sure to mix in enough good to lessen the sting of the bad. The next day they met for more than two hours, with McVay outlining the broad strokes of his philosophy while Goff marveled at the energy. “He was speaking the way Coach does,” Goff says, “and I was trying to keep up.”

“I was really impressed with his ability to take full accountability for what had happened,” McVay says. “He could have had a tendency to blame everyone else for things that happened, but he didn’t do any of that. I thought, ‘This guy’s wired the right way.'”

McVay promised to fashion the offense to his players’ talents, starting with Goff. Perhaps because of his youth and relative inexperience (he was Washington’s offensive coordinator for three seasons before coming to LA), he is not bound by a signature style or some 23andMe banyan tree of coaching legacies. In his mind, it’s not a brand, it’s a team. He solicited input from his offensive linemen on details as small as line-of-scrimmage verbiage and as big as their favorite run plays.

“He’s young, and he’s not stuck in his ways like some coaches are,” Goff says. He pauses and rushes to add, “I’m not referring to any of the staff I’ve been with. I’m just saying in general you hear about guys who say, ‘This is the way we do it.’ If there’s some sort of footwork or concept I don’t feel comfortable doing, he’s more than willing to adjust.”

After a recent practice, guard Rodger Saffold sat at his locker singing as he tossed his practice gear over his shoulder. When asked if he sang as often during his previous seven seasons with the Rams, none of which produced a winning record, he said, “I might have been singing, but it would have been to raise my spirits.” He laughed, and when asked another question — what is the biggest difference with Goff this season? — he said, “Different coaching. That’s the key. Always is, man. Always is.”

The Rams were such a persistent nonfactor (an NFC-worst 12 straight nonplayoff seasons makes them the Browns without the annoying laugh track) that it’s hard to overstate the enormity and immediacy of the turnaround. The team went from dead last in scoring offense (a Dickensian 14 points per game in 2016) to tied for first (30.1) through Week 13, a transformation few saw coming. Other than McVay, that is. During the offseason, Snead told his coach, “You know, if we can go from 32nd to 20th or so on offense …”

McVay cut him off.

“You really think that’s all we’re going to do?”

“But that’s good, Sean,” Snead said. “That’s showing progress.”

McVay, unconvinced, gave his boss a look. It suggested that progress was an insult.

Goff stands there chopping his feet and looking for seams in the Saints’ defense. The three defensive linemen continue their halfhearted rush, and the Rams’ receivers continue their recess-level route improv. For a moment, it seems possible that this one play might consume the rest of the afternoon.

Goff looks off his first two reads before motioning with a flick of his left hand — something resembling a no-more-cards motion to a blackjack dealer — for rookie receiver Josh Reynolds to keep running along the back of the end zone. And just as Reynolds creates the slightest sliver of daylight, Goff fires it low and hard, past three defenders and to a spot accessible only to Reynolds, who catches it at knee level and protects it with a roll.

You want vision, leadership, confidence? This isn’t McVay whispering the sweet secrets of genius into Goff’s ears before the helmet mic shut off at 15. You want intelligence, fearlessness, adaptability? This is a young quarterback in a big game, with his 5 o’clock stubble that probably took three days to grow, improvising and succeeding in a way that causes the game’s poets to expound with florid and hyperbolic prose about leaders of men and seers of defenses.

After the Rams beat the Saints, and the Cardinals the next week to ensure their first winning season in 14 years, that play became a symbol of New Goff. “This is a miracle turnaround, right?” Snead asks. “It’s deemed a miracle when in essence you took a kid who was 20 years old, he went through some growing pains and got better in year two. When you break it down like that, it doesn’t necessarily seem like a miracle, does it?”

The following Wednesday, during his weekly news conference, Goff is asked to break down what he saw, from beginning to end, on the touchdown pass to Reynolds. He gives it his best, in a slow and decidedly non-McVay fashion. He answers the question while anticipating the one that will follow. It’s been there in some form or another, week after week, win after win, hanging in the air above each questioner like a thought bubble. You can almost read Goff’s mind: Wait for it … wait for it … and, predictably, as soon as he stops talking, there it is:

Do you think you could have made that play last year?

What’s the statute of limitations on last year? “He’s tired of that,” Snead says. “He’s so tired of that.” At what point does the calculus — nine wins and a division lead this year compared with seven losses last year — tip in his favor? Goff looks out at the room like he is disappointed it is still there. What can he do? Refuse to answer? Object on the grounds of relevance?

“I can’t speak on whether I could have done it last year,” he says. “I don’t know. I didn’t get the opportunity to, I guess.”

The predictability makes it kind of funny. The predictability makes it kind of infuriating. The happiest fatalist you’ll ever meet has resigned himself to his one intractable truth: He can’t shake last year, even while he’s shaking it.

Goff to L.A., Wentz to Philly: How they became the top two picks in 2016

Alden Gonzalez

http://www.espn.com/blog/philadelphia-eagles/post/_/id/23238/jared-goff-and-carson-wentz-went-from-training-together-to-being-picked-1-2

Quarterbacks rarely become the top two picks in a draft. They also seldom lead playoff-bound teams in only their second season. And they definitely don’t come with an origin story like Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, who shared an agent and trained together before the 2016 NFL draft.

The Eagles are 10-2, rank first in point differential and are averaging an NFL-leading 30.08 points per game. The Rams are 9-3, rank second in point differential and are averaging an NFL-leading 30.08 points per game. Goff and Wentz represent the seventh quarterback pair to be selected first and second overall since 1967 and will soon become only the fifth of those to meet head-to-head.

Goff, a gifted downfield passer, went to a Rams team that had just moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles and traded up from No. 15 to No. 1 to have the chance to draft him. He rode the bench early, struggled late, then got a new head coach in Sean McVay who helped launch his career. Goff now sports a 98.4 passer rating and is averaging 8.1 yards per attempt.

Jared Goff, left, and Carson Wentz celebrate their draft wins. Goff went to the Rams No. 1 and Wentz to the Eagles. AP Photo/Matt Marton
Wentz, a wizard outside the pocket, went to an Eagles team that looked primed for contention and traded up twice, from No. 13 to 8 to 2 to get him. He thrived immediately, then took his lumps in the back half of his rookie season and now looks like an MVP candidate, while throwing for an NFL-leading 29 touchdowns and sporting a 72.5 Total QBR.

Leading up to their first meeting as pros, we took a look back at the pre-draft process and told that story from the accounts of those who experienced it. The four executives directly involved — for the Rams, Eagles, Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns — declined interviews. But several others shared their memories of the 2016 draft.

Training together

Goff and Wentz worked side by side in their competition to become the No. 1 pick. They not only became the first 1-2 quarterback combo to share an agent — Ryan Tollner — but they trained together in the lead-up to the draft. Three days a week, they would take the field, alternating snaps and matching throws.

With North Dakota State advancing to the FCS championship game, Wentz arrived in California to begin training a week later than Goff and was itching to catch up.

Ryan Lindley, former NFL quarterback who trained Wentz and Goff: “I want to say [Wentz] took a red eye right after they played their championship game and came right out to Orange County from Texas and wanted to get going. I was like, ‘Hey man, you’re coming off wrist surgery not even eight weeks earlier, came off playing a football game the day before. We can take a couple days off.’ But he wanted to get right to work. And I think it irked him a little bit that Jared already had a week up.”

Wentz: “We had just finished winning our fifth national championship there, and I knew I was already a couple weeks behind, kind of that pre-draft prep and everything, so I was ready to get it going. I just got out there as quickly as I could.”

Goff: “I met him. Immediately, right away, you can tell what type of worker he is.”

Wentz: “Jared and I, we threw on the field together a couple times a week. But we had our own private film sessions with our quarterbacks coach and everything and kind of did our own thing. It was just good to be around him.”

Lindley: “I mean, obviously Jared took it seriously and knew it was a big deal and was excited to work with us. But once Carson got there you knew there was a bar being set, and each one wanted to jump the other each day and raise it even higher. … You put two alphas in a cage, they’re going to put their hair up and be a little bit on edge, go after it a little bit.”

Wentz: “He can throw the ball well. He had a lot of arm talent. And he’s a great dude. We got along great.”

Goff: “Most times, through my life, I’ve thrown, and thrown with quarterbacks, and you kind of know where you are with them, for the most part. I remember throwing with him and it was like, ‘This guy can play.’ Right away. I’m like, ‘OK, he can play.'”

Lindley: “At the time, coming in, Jared was a better deep-ball thrower. He’s done a little bit more of that — obviously they kind of aired it out at Cal — and Carson was, and still is, an amazing thrower on the run. And he could do a lot with his feet. … I felt good with their progress, but you could kind of see if one was a lot better than the other, they’d want to do it again. ‘Let me get another rep. I can do better. I can do better.'”

Goff: “Of course, the competitor in me, every time he throws a good throw, I want to throw a good throw. And I’m sure it was the same with him.”

Tollner: “They pushed each other in terms of preparing and watching film and in the weight room, out on the field throwing. And one thing that I think was evident to both players from Day 1 was, ‘This other guy’s pretty good.'”

Lindley: “The battle for who was the first quarterback taken was out there, for sure. I think at the end of day, each one of them — that’s a feather in your cap to be labeled by an NFL team as the best guy in your draft class. And I think they wanted that.”

Throughout their workouts, it was not uncommon for Goff or Wentz to check in with Lindley to gauge his take on the competition.

Lindley: “It would be different each day. Both have a different way of putting it out there. They’d never completely throw it out there like, ‘Yo, how did I look compared to Carson?’ I don’t think either of them was that self-conscious. But it would be like, ‘Hey, I noticed I needed to improve on this a little bit. How does so-and-so do that?’ You could see it getting to know them. But at the end of the day, they wanted to keep it veiled and know they were kind of checking in subtly.”

Wentz: “I think we both kind of loved the competition and everything, and it made us both better. I thought it prepared us well for the draft.”

Goff: “It definitely pushed both of us. I don’t think there was any, ‘I want to go higher than him.’ I wasn’t feeling anything that way, and I don’t think he was, either. I think, for both of us, it was, ‘We want to end up in a good situation. Regardless of who goes first, who goes second, both of us want to end up in a good situation.'”

Private workouts

Weather — and even the simulation of weather — played a role in how the draft process unfolded. A North Dakota blizzard on March 24 kept 14 teams from attending Wentz’s pro day. Only one head coach, the Cleveland Browns’ Hue Jackson, was in attendance. “Divine intervention,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said, looking up to the heavens. California rain proved to be a key ingredient in the Rams’ courtship of Goff. The skies opened over Berkeley prior to their private workout with the Cal quarterback, setting precisely the scene they needed.

Tollner: “One of the questions related to Goff was, he’s California born and bred, and could he still throw the ball in adverse conditions? If you recall, there were questions in the process about Jared’s hand size, how he grips the football, and how might a rainy day, a late December outdoor contest, affect his ability to throw the ball? It was a cold, kind of windy day in California with rain, and Jared really embraced the opportunity to go out and throw for the Rams’ brass.”

Former Rams coach Jeff Fisher: “We had watched the weather early that day and we felt like we were going to have a window of about an hour and a half or two hours to get it done. But he preferred to just throw in the rain.”

The Rams’ contingent included Fisher, general manager Les Snead, offensive coordinator Rob Boras, quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke and receivers coach Mike Groh. They stayed at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, California, and Goff was coincidentally staying there, too. They ran into each other in the lobby the night before their workout, which took place the weekend after the combine. The Rams were trying to map out a time that worked. Some of those in attendance will tell you Goff basically demanded to throw in the rain, though Goff dismissed that a bit.

Goff: “I was under the impression that it was at a set time and I was going. I don’t know. But it was raining. There was nothing I could do about it.”

Fisher: “We kept the ball as dry as we could. I had a towel and would put the footballs under my jacket between throws. We were trying to do what we could to keep the balls dry. They were still wet, but we felt like they were manageable for him to throw, and he did a really, really good job with everything.”

Tollner: “Jared apparently threw the ball exceptionally well that day.”

Goff: “It went well. I know when I throw good balls. Yeah.”

Wentz was having a different experience with the Browns as a result of a coach’s decision to soak balls with water during the workout to try and create adverse conditions.

Tollner: It was Cleveland that was doing the wet-ball deal. Their coach would walk up and dump a water bottle on the ball as they’re holding it, and then have them take a few reps throwing the ball. … I mean, it was a pretty unrealistic example of a wet ball: You’re holding a dry football and somebody pours a bucket of water on it and tells you to keep the grip and throw it.”

Wentz (after his pro day): “It happens. It was pretty doused. It would’ve had to be a torrential downpour.”

Things went smoother when an Eagles contingent — Pederson, Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman, offensive coordinator Frank Reich, quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo and owner Jeffrey Lurie — visited Wentz in Fargo, North Dakota.

Pederson: “We got off the plane, got right to the stadium, he greeted us right at the door. He was ready to go. He already went through a preworkout before we got there. And then DeFilippo and Frank took him through about 30 minutes of throwing and agility work. Pretty impressive. You sit there and you’re going, ‘All right, this kid might have a little something.'”

Tollner: They went to dinner — their coaches and Howie — at I believe one of the nicest restaurants in Fargo, and they all had just a genuinely enjoyable dinner. The Eagles group came away really, really impressed by him — the way he carried himself and just his level of confidence.”

Roseman (on draft day): “His presence when he walks in the room, when he talks to you not only about football but about life, and then when you watch him interact with people. He walks in the restaurant, just the impressions people have. … I saw the manager and the hostess talking to each other and saying, ‘Carson is just the greatest guy. He’s always so humble, and he’s always so appreciative of all of us here.'”

Wentz: “I just remember I felt really confident with all my workouts and board work — drill work, board work, watching film, kind of everything. I felt really good all the way through that draft process with the Rams, with the Eagles, and all the teams that I met with.”

Pederson: “It was toward the end of March we set up that trip to go work out Goff and Wentz and [Kevin] Hogan at Stanford, and then come back and meet with the kid at Memphis, Paxton Lynch, those four guys. And we spent equal amount of time with all of them. We wanted to make sure we were fair with our evaluations. But at the same time, we could have spent two days with Carson. It was easy with him.”

Trading up

Goff was in Philadelphia, getting ready for bed on the night of April 13. His visit with the Eagles was scheduled for the following morning. But then he got a phone call. The Rams had acquired the No. 1 pick from the Tennessee Titans, giving up six picks — two of them in the first round — to move up a whopping 14 spots. Kobe Bryant was playing in his final NBA game that night, and the Rams didn’t want to steal his spotlight by announcing their trade. The rest of the world would find out the next day.

Goff: “I woke up the next morning, and, of course, it’s three hours ahead. So I’m in my meetings with Philly. And again, I have so much respect for Philly. I love their coaches and love Lurie, love everything they have going on there, love Howie, and I think they’re a really, really good franchise. I’m sitting in an interview — or a meeting, I believe — with one of their psychologists. My phone just starts going buzz, buzz, buzz. It just starts buzzing off the hook. And that’s when I was like, ‘Oh, shoot, they must’ve just traded up. It must’ve just happened.’ Sure enough, I look at my phone, and it’s happening. I look at the TV, and it’s happening.”

The Rams had tried to trade up in the draft the prior year, after scouting Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Titans held the top two spots and wouldn’t budge.

Fisher: “We kind of had a sense of the quarterback class at that time and felt like, to have an opportunity to get a franchise quarterback in that group, we had to go there. … We would have gone through the same exercise had the team stayed in St. Louis. I can say that with absolute certainty. This was a need that the team had to address no matter where we were.”

Tollner: “The Titans have the first pick and we represented their quarterback in Marcus Mariota, so there were certainly discussions with Jon Robinson, the Titans GM, about the possibility of moving out of the first pick, and there were discussions with Les Snead, the Rams GM, about trying to get all the way up to No. 1 to ensure he would get the player he wanted. And how can you execute that trade from 15 to 1? Very, very difficult.

Snead (at the April 14 news conference): “We were at the combine. … You get to draft for suites, and the Titans were our neighbors [in 2016]. It was easy for us to sneak out the back there and chat about the pick. It’s a long process. Through the process, you get a feel [the Titans] were willing. But they definitely had a value for their pick. You have that luxury when you have a QB.”

Tollner: “All of this was going on for a couple months prior to the draft. And the Rams became fixated on the idea; Les Snead became fixated on the idea of trading all the way up to No. 1.”

Robinson (to Titans.com on April 14): “We’ve had some discussions back-and-forth going back to the combine. Some initial, exploratory discussions, if you will. Things kind of heated up over the last several weeks, and then we were finally able to come to a decision.”

Fisher: “Our board was good with respect to the other quarterbacks, but we felt, to truly have the opportunity to get one of the top two — Jared or Carson — we were going to have to move up. … We really felt at that time, based on all the information we had gathered on both players, we couldn’t go wrong if we could get to either one or two.”

Robinson (to Titans.com on April 14): “It was a chance for us to really bolster the depth of our football team, having six shots at the top 76 players in this draft, not to mention five next year with the extra one and the extra three.”

Goff: “I knew it was me or Carson. And we both did. We didn’t find out for sure until sometime later, but yeah, that’s the first thing you think of is, ‘Oh, man, is it me?'”

The Eagles had already traded up from No. 13 to No. 8 in March, but they, too, were eyeing a quarterback. The Browns also wanted a quarterback, but seemingly didn’t become infatuated with Goff or Wentz. They went back-and-forth with the Eagles for weeks and ultimately accepted five picks — two in the first round — for the No. 2 overall selection on April 21, seven days after the Rams’ trade.

Tollner: “I was in constant communication with Howie [Roseman], and when the Rams executed the trade up to No. 1, then the feeling was, ‘OK, who do you think they’re going to take?’ And I felt it would be Goff, and that’s when they started to make the move.”

Roseman (on April 21): “It’s rare for us to be in the top 10 in the draft, but that was our No. 1 goal in the offseason.”

Goff: “I found out about the Eagles’ trade on my Rams visit. I was here a week later, and sure enough, on the TV, ‘Eagles move up to No. 2.'”

Sashi Brown, former Browns vice president of football operations (at the 2017 NFL combine): “We do like the trade. … Understanding where we were as a roster, understanding that we were passing on the opportunity to take a player, whether it’s [defensive end Joey] Bosa or Wentz. … This is a trade when you probably look back at it that will work out for both teams.”

Goff: “At the end of the day, when they were both one and two, I was like, ‘Man, those are probably my two favorites.’ I liked L.A. the best, but the Eagles were right there. And I would’ve been very happy with either one of them.”

Wentz: “I think it ended up working out for both of us.”

The decision

The Rams traveled to play the Oakland Raiders to open the 2015 preseason on Aug. 14. For Snead, who started paying attention to Goff when he became the first true freshman to start at Cal, it was a chance to watch him practice. The Rams’ interest in Goff — and desire for a franchise quarterback — grew stronger as the 2015 season played out, ultimately motivating them to move up to the No. 1 overall pick.

Tollner: “The Rams identified early in the process that they were going to take a quarterback, and they were willing to do whatever it took to get one. I think that they had their sights set on Jared very early.”

Goff: “I loved the coaches, and I loved the whole [Rams] organization. I liked [chief operating officer Kevin] Demoff, Les, the previous staff. I did like them a lot. I had a good rapport with all of them. I loved Fisher, and Les was awesome. It was just a really good feeling, a really good vibe.”

Pederson: “It kind of went back-and-forth. It was like, ‘OK, this week it’s Carson, next week it’s Goff.’ As you study and go back and look at all their tape and look at different things, probably the one thing is that you couldn’t see bad-weather games with Carson because he was always in a dome. I think he played in one bad-weather game and he played in 40 degrees and raining. That was like the worst he’s been in during his college career, where Goff was at least outside — California — there’s always going to be rain, different things, so you can compare all kinds of stuff. But at the end of the day, we just felt real comfortable that if we’d get our chance, that [Wentz] would be our guy.”

The Eagles worked out Goff, Wentz, Lynch and Hogan in late March, weeks before they would trade from No. 8 to No. 2. They returned to Philadelphia, and that’s when they pretty much knew Wentz was the player they wanted.

Pederson: “We started writing up our reports and talking some more and doing some more of the analytical stuff with all of the quarterbacks. Then we had the 30 visits, and both Goff and Dak Prescott was here, Carson was here. And we just came away at that point thinking, ‘Man, Carson.'”

Wentz: “I just felt a great connection with this coaching staff, with the city. Just kind of the blue-collar work ethic — everything about it. I just kind of fell in love with it.”

Tollner: “The Eagles made the trade up to two expecting to get Carson, and I think that my gut feel on that was sort of a strong factor for them, and it turned out to be right.”

Roseman (on draft day): “He was our top player on our board.”

Goff pretty much knew he was going No. 1 about a week before the draft. Snead and Fisher had decided well before that. But they mostly kept it to themselves, partly because they still wanted to hear honest, fair, unbiased opinions from their scouts and coaches. Stan Kroenke, the Rams owner, knew about the decision before he sat down with Goff at Mastro’s Steakhouse in Beverly Hills in the days leading up to the draft.

Goff: “We had the same agent. He’s got information from the Eagles, he’s got information from the Rams. We both find out. It was never for sure until my name was called. So I’m still sitting at the table, waiting for my phone to ring. You never really know for sure.”

Wentz: “I think we both had a pretty good idea of where we would end up, but we still were just waiting for that call — when the Rams were on the clock, right then and there.”

Tollner: “Both of them had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with those teams at the combine, at a private workout, at a team visit. And they both came away saying, ‘This would be a great place to play. I think I can be successful here.’ I think they liked the people, the location. … There were certainly other teams that [they] thought presented great opportunities, as well, but those were two that both players came away saying, ‘This would be pretty cool to get drafted here.'”

Fisher: “[Goff] was very, very excited. We had a conversation earlier in the day. You’re just checking the phones, you’re making sure you can get in touch with him. He’s got the family in New York, and we told him he would be hearing from us very shortly, once the draft got started. … It wasn’t that phone call where he’s on national TV. It was the phone call to let him know shortly ahead of time. I know he had a smile on his face, and he said, ‘I won’t let you guys down. I’m very excited, and thanks for the opportunity.'”

Wentz: “It was a crazy whirlwind. You’re playing every scenario in your head. Trying not to, but you naturally are. But at the end of the day, wouldn’t trade it for the world where I ended up.”

Move the Sticks: Who has the Edge Sunday – Wentz or Goff?

Rhett Lewis and Bucky Brooks discuss second-year quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Jared Goff ahead of their showdown Sunday in Los Angeles.

http://www.therams.com/videos/videos/Move-the-Sticks-Who-has-the-Edge-Sunday—Wentz-or-Goff/d066a501-ac08-415f-b557-6e2f1e9254b7

But former Dolphin Jay Ajayi has been a clear difference-maker for the team. He’s averaging 7.9 yards per carry in his four games in Philadelphia since being acquired from Miami at the trading deadline, with 229 yards on 29 carries.

Rams faced Ajayi in 2016 when they played Miami.

He got 77 yards on 16 carries including a long run of 34 yards.

That was Goff’s first start.

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Steve Wyche: Eagles believe Rams offense runs through Todd Gurley

NFL Network’s Steve Wyche explains why the Philadelphia Eagles are going to try and focus their attention on Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley instead of Jared Goff.

http://www.therams.com/videos/videos/Steve-Wyche-Eagles-believe-Rams-offense-runs-through-Todd-Gurley/6b7f4917-485f-4859-9b50-492bf0e2b1f0

Shot 7 – Shades of Kyle Shanahan influence in this play-action pass game. They have a ton of concepts that complement their deep/intermediate passing plays. I guarantee you'll see at least one of these on Sunday vs #Eagles defense. Screens/throwbacks vs aggressive defense. pic.twitter.com/DgooHh6W1p

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) December 7, 2017

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Shot 8 – Sean McVay does a great job of putting his players in position to leverage the strengths and hide their weaknesses. He's gotten a lot out of Tavon Austin in the screen game, on gadgets, and even as a tailback on basic run concepts #Rams #Eagles pic.twitter.com/r8IPLCIbol

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) December 7, 2017

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Shot 9 – #Rams are also very good with Bunch / Stacked WR sets, and biggest benefactor of that is rookie WR Cooper Kupp. Again, leverage a player's strengths and hide his weaknesses. Kupp doesn't need to beat press on any of these. Scheme gets him free release to win mid-route pic.twitter.com/8mMC9r0jkl

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) December 7, 2017

Shot 3 – This is one of the staples of the #Rams passing game off play-action. The clear route from No. 2 WR along with the underneath route helps create a huge void inside. Jared Goff hits the top of his drop and hits the Dig route in-stride for a first down. pic.twitter.com/PL37PiEd9G

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) December 7, 2017

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Shot 4 – Another one of the #Rams staples off play-action is the 3-level stretch. Ball is meant to go to the intermediate route, but depending on the look of the safeties Goff will go over the top for the big play. Has happened many times this year. pic.twitter.com/DTFSwg8dnc

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) December 7, 2017

.@BenFennell_NFL and I have studied a ton of this #Rams offense the last couple of weeks. Really great scheme that McVay has put together out there. Clear influences from Belichick, Sean Payton, Shanahan, Andy Reid and others. Strong run game, great play-action, bunches, rubs etc

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) December 7, 2017

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Shot 1 – It all starts, however, with Todd Gurley and the run game. Outside Zone is the staple run scheme. Gurley is a one-cut, downhill slasher who can pick up large chunks at a time, and that #Rams OL is greatly improved. pic.twitter.com/ulAUU4HKnQ

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) December 7, 2017

wv wrote:

Yeah the drafted well enough before but this time they had no first rounders and no multiple 2nd or 3rd rounders (i think?) as opposed to snisher years. Plus, the free agents under McV. Not a dud among them. No jarod cooks, etc.

If they can duplicated that offseason one more time
they are set for a title run.

w
v

Agree on what having another double-A-plus off-season means.

But remember they drafted well in the lower rounds before too. An example of that is 2016, which includes contributors like Cooper. After Goff, they did not have a 2nd OR 3rd round pick in 2016 but leaving Goff out of it you have to consider it a good draft in the lower rounds.

So yes they did a good lower round draft this year, but the 2017 draft class was one of the deepest drafts anyone can remember. One of the positions where it was unusually deep: receiver.

And yes they didn’t have a #1 pick in 2017 but then also remember that that also means they didn;t get a Brockers, Tree, Donald, Gurley, or Goff either.

Tellin ya. Don’t be underestimating Mr. Snead.

…

wv wrote:

Is there a single free-agent signed under McV that has disappointed?

A single draft choice thats disappointed?

w
v

Well remember, they drafted fairly well before. The problems before were free agency.

So that’s not just McVay, that’s McV + Snead. One of the benefits of continuity.

And in fact a lot of guys from before this year are coming through…it;s not just the starters. So it’s not just Tru, Joyner, Longacre (to an extent), Tree, Barron, Donald, Brockers, Saffold, Brown, Hav, Higbee (to an extent), Austin (to an extent), Goff, Gurley, Zuerlein, Cooper, and Hekker, it’s also guys like Hager and Littleton and Brown and Cody Davis etc.

And yes they had a great draft this year and the best free agency signings as a group that I can remember.

Short version: agreed.

.@RamsNFL @JaredGoff16 to @CooperKupp for +25; so effective and the best part is the QB doesn't even get breathed on. #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/3ACJFiRpcC

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 5, 2017

.@RamsNFL @JaredGoff16 TD throw to @lightningstrk12 is making Les Snead and his draft loll better each game #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/nlsJnRBZKz

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 5, 2017

.@rams run @TG3II on "toss crack" and the 2 rookie WR use their size to their advantage #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/dQZ9ZE7nkz

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 5, 2017

.@RamsNFL #RodgerSaffold with a nasty club to help part the Red Sea for @TG3II #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/TcMhL3SRzR

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 5, 2017