Goff might not mirror Manning before a play begins, but once the ball is snapped, there's at least one aspect of Goff that might draw comparisons to the NFL's all-time touchdown leader. Arguably the strongest asset at Goff's disposal is his footwork, which resembles Manning's feet on Sundays.
"I try to pride myself in having really quick feet and being able to set up and throw balls in time," Goff says. "Having my feet be as good as I want them to be can get me out of a lot of problems when I'm in the pocket and stuff starts to break down. There's rarely ever a perfect pocket."
When Goff maneuvers inside the pocket, his feet bounce up and down off the turf. Franklin calls this "Peyton Manning feet," adding that they frequently watch film of Manning.
"We get our feet as hot as a typewriter," Franklin says. "We're always able to move and find a throwing lane because we're always having our feet hot like a typewriter."
In the clip above, taken from the first game of Goff's sophomore season against Northwestern, you can see just how quick and short Goff's steps are, which is something that Franklin emphasizes because it allows Goff to release the football at a moment's notice.
"Manning will move from the A gap to the C gap feet -- feet hot, hot all the time, typing all the time. He can throw the ball back across the field because his body position is perfect," Franklin says. "Guys who step have to wait until the foot lands before they can throw the ball."
Though Goff is by no means a running quarterback, one of his most underrated qualities is his ability to extend plays behind the line of scrimmage, which is a skill that Franklin attributes to Goff's footwork.
Franklin typically spends a portion of practice putting his quarterbacks through a series of footwork drills while the team works on kickoffs. There's one drill in particular that Franklin runs with his quarterbacks.
The six of them line up in rows of three, so that each quarterback is across from another, separated by no more than a few yards. One row of quarterbacks holds the footballs. Franklin then spews out verbiage that sounds like a foreign language to me. The quarterbacks nod.
"Hit!" Franklin commands.
The three quarterbacks holding the footballs toss them across to the other three, who put their feet to work, lightly bouncing around in each of their imaginary pockets, scanning a field filled with made-up targets and defenders. They repeat this drill over and over, with Franklin changing the play call every few reps and the quarterbacks adjusting their footwork and eye level to correspond with the call.
All six quarterbacks are quick on their feet, but Goff's reach another level.
"His feet and pocket presence are amazing," Treggs says. "Whenever he needs to throw the ball, he's ready. He doesn't need to set his feet. They're already ready to throw."
