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Rams rookie quarterback Jared Goff could find himself playing if the Rams fall out of the playoff race. (AP Photo/TUSP, Jay Biggerstaff)
Rams approach fork in the road on when Jared Goff should step in at quarterback
By VINCENT BONSIGNORE / STAFF COLUMNIST
On the final practice before the Rams broke for their bye week, rookie quarterback Jared Goff took the majority of snaps with the first-team offense.
Without the benefit of actual game action to assess Goff’s progress, his extended work against the Rams front-line defense last Wednesday opened a window into just how far he’s come since the end of training camp.
Coupled with the Rams’ plunge in the standings – should it continue against the Carolina Panthers – the progress Goff showed may have created a new timeline from which they finally decide to get him on the field.
What we have, essentially, is a franchise rapidly approaching a crossroads in which present and future objectives will meet.
And Case Keenum, the incumbent starter, appears more aware than ever of the looming fork in the road.
Keenum spoke recently about being the starter “this week” and how he’s taking things “a week at a time.”
It’s the first time all season Keenum has referred to his hold on the starting job in such tenuous terms. That it comes during a three-game losing streak – and immediately after he threw four interceptions in a frustrating loss to the New York Giants – is striking.
Almost as if instincts are telling him a fourth straight loss could be the catalyst for change.
Which means he might be facing a must-win situation when the Rams host the Panthers Sunday at the Coliseum.
Win, and keep the job. Lose, and give way to Goff.
It would be the right thing to do.
For the moment, the Rams remain on the fringe of the NFC West race. That’s more a product of what the rest of the division hasn’t done than what the Rams have, but as long as the division title is legitimately within reach, Keenum should stay the starter with Goff developing in the background.
That’s been the plan almost from the moment the Rams selected Goff, at which point they hoisted themselves onto two separate train tracks.
On one, they hoped to finally turn the corner from the 7-9 teams they’ve been under Jeff Fisher to a legitimate playoff contender. Keenum was the quarterback they counted on to navigate them across that route.
On the other, they’d quietly and prudently develop Goff, the undisputed future face of the franchise. As some close to Fisher explain it, he would follow a similar blueprint he used 21 years ago with Steve McNair as coach of the Houston Oilers.
McNair arrived in Houston a talented but raw prospect from tiny Alcorn State, then spent two years learning and developing behind the scenes. From that quiet place, an eventual Super Bowl quarterback emerged.
“He hasn’t wavered from his plan,” one source said. “He kept Steve McNair off the field and played Chris Chandler for a year and he liked the results.”
Ideally, the Rams hope the two train tracks run parallel to each other this year, but the three-game losing streak they’ve stumbled into has reduced their best regular-season start in years to an all-too-familiar 3-4 mark near the midpoint.
And it’s created the very intersection they hoped to avoid.
The justification for deliberately bringing along Goff in the classroom and on the practice field only holds up if the Rams remain in the playoff race.
As long as they are, Keenum deserves the chance to keep playing.
But they are barely hanging on at this point, and a loss to the Panthers essentially cuts the chord completely.
Keenum isn’t solely to blame, although his 10 interceptions through seven games is alarmingly high and the three pick-six touchdown interceptions he’s thrown have played big in two losses.
Still, he’s merely part of a larger Rams’ problem.
Of bigger concern is rolling with him out of foolish hope the playoffs are within reach, and in the process squandering the chance to develop Goff over the remaining eight games.
If the Rams lose Sunday to the Panthers, all remaining rational to stick with Keenum is lost.
Which brings us back to Goff, and his work with the first-team offense last week.
The progress was apparent in how decisive he looked, his command at the line of scrimmage and quickly the ball was coming out of his hand. On two occasions, he unleashed passes that drew oohs and ahhs from teammates watching on the sideline.
It was only practice, but for anyone who has watched Goff since OTAs the leap forward was obvious.
And for Rams coaches, it was a turning point. Goff has impressed them with his progress in the classroom the last few weeks by asking more advanced questions and delving beyond just the initial layer of play concepts and defensive looks to more nuanced details.
Now they were seeing it in real time.
“I thought it came to fruition on the practice field,” offensive coordinator Rob Boras said. “That practice Wednesday, I thought it was great. To me, and you guys that are watching practice, how fast he’s getting in and out of the huddle. You could just see the confidence with what was going on. The wheels weren’t turning when he got up to the line of scrimmage, and he was real accurate, and decisive with what he was doing.
“I’ve kept talking about how well he’s been doing in the classroom; it was time to see it out here with all those reps that he got. I think we were all really pleased to see what was able to do in those couple of practices.”
Point being, Goff is closing in on being ready to take the field.
As long as the Rams remain in legitimate playoff contention, there is justification to keep Goff on the sideline and let him develop in the background.
But the intersection between what they’d prefer to do and what they should is looming close and closer.
And you get the sense that everyone from the coaching staff to Keenum can see it up ahead.
[www.ocregister.com]
