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Oliver Connolly
@ollieconnolly
Jared Goff’s first year in the NFL was a disaster. While fellow rookies Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz intoxicated many with their flashes of excellence, the No. 1 overall pick was, to be blunt: awful.
Goff was never built to jump into the league and have immediate success. He was a project with enticing physical tools and an excellent mental makeup, but a project nonetheless. The Rams attempted to give him a full redshirt year, but pulled the ripcord in Week 10, handing the reigns to the rookie when neither he nor the team were ready.
His first seven starts were so unimaginably bad that it’s fair to wonder what the Rams’ staff was doing during those early months of his career.
The Rams’ first season back in L.A. spun out of control. The organization fired Jeff Fisher less than a year after trading the farm to move up and grab Goff (and more than a year too late), and they slumped to a 4-12 record.
Now, Goff heads into his second year in the league with a new staff, even more pressure to perform, and whispers of the B-word already hovering over his head.
***
Some quarterbacks’ careers are over before they begin. They get hit, slammed, dropped and rocked. They feel the chinstrap of a defender drive through their chest more than they do the joy of celebrating a score.
David Carr is perhaps the most infamous example. He was a talented thrower and not so talented decision-maker. The expansion Houston Texans hung him out to dry behind an offensive line that could be politely described as garbage. Carr got punished. He took big shot after big shot and developed the quarterback yips: dropping his eye line and staring down at the rush. His career was over.
There’s some Carr within Goff. His rookie campaign bordered on offensive. It was far from being all his fault, though. The Rams threw him out there when he wasn’t ready, after all other avenues were exhausted. They neatly crafted the least imaginable offense in the league and refused to play to Goff’s strengths — like building in some basic RPO elements. It was a recipe for disaster.
Goff averaged 5.3 yards per attempt and was bad enough to make folks clamor for Case Keenum.
Even when the process isn’t the fault of the player, the outcome can still be the same. Rookie seasons shell shock some. They make others. Some players rise to the challenge, adapting and learning from their errors —remember when Peyton Manning threw 28 interceptions in his rookie year? Others are doomed to repeat their mistakes over and over again, developing bad habits when the rookie year survival instincts kick in.
When I ran through Goff’s 2016 tape, one recurring thought kept jumping into my mind: This isn’t the guy I watched at Cal.
Sure, some of the issues were the same: His accuracy fluctuated, throws were out a beat too late and there were some baffling decisions. But other issues were fresh.
In college, Goff was as advanced as they come at manipulating the pocket. He played with light feet, effortlessly dancing around to avoid the heavy plodders. The pass rush played to his beat; no matter where the pressure came from, he was intelligent enough, and physically gifted enough, to avoid it. He would contort his body as he moved and drive throws from unnatural platforms.
https://www.all22.com/los-angeles-rams/jared-goff-danger-next-big-quarterback-bust
@ollieconnolly
Jared Goff’s first year in the NFL was a disaster. While fellow rookies Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz intoxicated many with their flashes of excellence, the No. 1 overall pick was, to be blunt: awful.
Goff was never built to jump into the league and have immediate success. He was a project with enticing physical tools and an excellent mental makeup, but a project nonetheless. The Rams attempted to give him a full redshirt year, but pulled the ripcord in Week 10, handing the reigns to the rookie when neither he nor the team were ready.
His first seven starts were so unimaginably bad that it’s fair to wonder what the Rams’ staff was doing during those early months of his career.
The Rams’ first season back in L.A. spun out of control. The organization fired Jeff Fisher less than a year after trading the farm to move up and grab Goff (and more than a year too late), and they slumped to a 4-12 record.
Now, Goff heads into his second year in the league with a new staff, even more pressure to perform, and whispers of the B-word already hovering over his head.
***
Some quarterbacks’ careers are over before they begin. They get hit, slammed, dropped and rocked. They feel the chinstrap of a defender drive through their chest more than they do the joy of celebrating a score.
David Carr is perhaps the most infamous example. He was a talented thrower and not so talented decision-maker. The expansion Houston Texans hung him out to dry behind an offensive line that could be politely described as garbage. Carr got punished. He took big shot after big shot and developed the quarterback yips: dropping his eye line and staring down at the rush. His career was over.
There’s some Carr within Goff. His rookie campaign bordered on offensive. It was far from being all his fault, though. The Rams threw him out there when he wasn’t ready, after all other avenues were exhausted. They neatly crafted the least imaginable offense in the league and refused to play to Goff’s strengths — like building in some basic RPO elements. It was a recipe for disaster.
Goff averaged 5.3 yards per attempt and was bad enough to make folks clamor for Case Keenum.
Even when the process isn’t the fault of the player, the outcome can still be the same. Rookie seasons shell shock some. They make others. Some players rise to the challenge, adapting and learning from their errors —remember when Peyton Manning threw 28 interceptions in his rookie year? Others are doomed to repeat their mistakes over and over again, developing bad habits when the rookie year survival instincts kick in.
When I ran through Goff’s 2016 tape, one recurring thought kept jumping into my mind: This isn’t the guy I watched at Cal.
Sure, some of the issues were the same: His accuracy fluctuated, throws were out a beat too late and there were some baffling decisions. But other issues were fresh.
In college, Goff was as advanced as they come at manipulating the pocket. He played with light feet, effortlessly dancing around to avoid the heavy plodders. The pass rush played to his beat; no matter where the pressure came from, he was intelligent enough, and physically gifted enough, to avoid it. He would contort his body as he moved and drive throws from unnatural platforms.
https://www.all22.com/los-angeles-rams/jared-goff-danger-next-big-quarterback-bust
