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The Rams’ Jared Goff struggled in his pro debut on Sunday. (Harry How/Getty Images)
Succumbing to pressure and temptation after waiting 10 weeks, Los Angeles Rams Coach Jeff Fisher announced this week the Rams would start first overall draft pick Jared Goff at quarterback. But was that really him out there Sunday afternoon, or just Case Keenum wearing a No. 16 Jared Goff jersey? The Rams looked no different on offense, no better than the decrepit unit that has scored 14 offensive touchdowns in 10 games. The obvious and harsh reality, laid bare in an unsightly, season-killing loss, might make the Rams’ next big change come at head coach.
The time to judge Goff is not in the minutes after his debut, a 14-10 loss at home to Miami in which the Dolphins scored both of their touchdowns in the final 4:02. But the rookie from Cal revealed nothing that would suggest the Rams waited to start him for any reason other than he’s just not very good yet.
The Rams, now 4-6 and falling from the NFC’s playoff picture, must grapple with two questions. The first is whether Goff will ever be any good, or if they wasted the two first-round picks, and then some, they traded to the Tennessee Titans in order to move up and select him. The second is whether they can even really know when Goff is being coached by Fisher and first-year offensive coordinator Rob Boras, neither of whom have shown they understand how to develop a quarterback.
[Jeff Fisher ties Tom Landry for second-most losses by an NFL coach]
Goff completed 17 of his 31 passes for 134 yards, spending the entire game throwing short passes. His longest completion came to Tavon Austin for 21 yards and involved mostly Austin running after the catch. Goff avoided disaster, taking only one sack and throwing no interceptions. But with the Rams’ defensive line obliterating a banged-up Miami offensive line, Goff had the entire game to seize control, to put together one drive that could have sealed the game. And he couldn’t. Goff led an unthreatening, bland offense.
Goff will be compared most often with Carson Wentz, whom the Philadelphia Eagles selected second overall. Leading up to the draft, Goff and Wentz were the obvious candidates to be picked in the first two slots, with the order the only mystery.
While Wentz has commanded the Eagles from Week 1, the Rams decided against even making Goff active in the first game. It would be easy to assume, it might be true, that Goff is simply not ready and the Rams made the wrong choice. It sure looks that way now, but we need more time to say that definitively.
But it’s also possible the Rams would seemingly have the worse quarterback no matter who they picked, because of the offensive infrastructure around him. In Philadelphia, Wentz plays for coordinator Frank Reich, a former NFL quarterback, and Doug Pederson, a first-year head coach who trained for years under Andy Reid, one of the NFL’s most experienced and brightest offensive minds. In Dallas, rookie Dak Prescott plays under Jason Garrett, an experienced NFL coach and longtime NFL backup quarterback, and Scott Linehan, a former head coach and a creative play-caller.
In Los Angeles, Goff plays for Fisher, who with the Rams already failed to develop one first overall pick in Sam Bradford. His offensive coordinator, Boras, spent the rest of his NFL career coaching tight ends. Goff may be able to hand off to Todd Gurley, but his wide receivers have no ability to create space, and his offensive line is lousy. The Rams are not exactly set up for Goff to excel right away.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ng-debut-places-doubt-in-jeff-fishers-future/
