Final* Evaluation of Goff’s Rams Tenure

[AvengerRam]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

So how should we look at Jared Goff's Rams tenure now that it has come to an abrupt and somewhat surprising end?

Certainly, it was marked by ups and downs. His rookie season was ugly, but its not difficult to see why, given the level of talent and the types of schemes he had to work with. I didn't give up hope after his first games, but I certainly was concerned.

Then Sean McVay enters the picture, the OL and receiving corps are improved, and for two years, Goff is a Pro Bowl QB who leads the Rams within one game of the title. I still saw the need for growth, but I truly believed at that point that we had a franchise QB. So did the Rams, as Goff was rewarded with a big contract extension.

Then it went South. The OL declined, Gurley did too and then departed, and Goff's production took a big dip. Goff cannot be blamed or absolved in full for this, and we can debate until the end of time the relative levels of blame. What is clear, though, is that Goff was not able to transcend these issues and raise his game to another level. McVay lost confidence, and now Goff's a Lion.

You note that there is an asterisk in the thread title. That's because this review may not be entirely final. What if Goff tears it up in Detroit, while Stafford's production is comparable to what we've seen from Goff during the past two seasons?

In any event, we're at the end of Goff's time here, so how will we view him? Is his legacy the hefty price to acquire, pay and, ultimately, move him from the team? Is it the legacy of a QB who was good, but just not good enough?

Time will tell, but I do think that, regardless of what we might think of him right now, he remains one of only three QBs to take the Rams to a Super Bowl. That's historically noteworthy, if nothing else.

I also, at this juncture, based on what I know, I feel that Goff gave the Rams his best effort and was a solid citizen and a good teammate. So, as he departs, I'll send him off with a "thanks" and a "good luck," even if I hope Matthew Stafford outplays him by a HUGE margin over the next few seasons!

And with that, I'm ready to move on to the Stafford Era.

 

[ozarkram]

I view him as the Lions starting QB.

 

[jacktheripper85]

Agree with most of the original post. Suffice to say that once the league figured out Goff’s weaknesses he never adjusted-or put the time in to adjust or frankly doesn’t have the capacity to mentally adjust on the fly to what teams are doing.

People can post snapshots of different games during the year and argue the good and bad about Goff-which is debatable. However, what is NOT debatable is the change in overall game planning this year and part of last year compared to Goff’s first 2 years under McVay.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that McVay and the rest of the Ram offensive coaching staff had lost all confidence in their QB being able to process what defenses were doing to him and his ability to overcome that.

And let’s not pretend we didn’t see that all year. Short passes, WR screens on pretty much any 3rd and 7 or more yards, time outs all over the place, constant roll outs to one side of the field, etc. This offense went from an explosive attack mode type to a possession, passive non-turnover oriented due to our coaching staff’s lack of faith in our QB.

Imagine McVay-“the boy wonder” having to ditch half his playbook because his QB can’t process what he sees on the field. Imagine the pressure of having to put together the “perfect” game plan every week knowing that your $35MM QB can never win a game “on his own” if that game plan isn’t working. Imagine dumbing down your offense so your QB doesn’t turn the ball over but instead he turns it over twice as much? And people want to question this trade? Lol

McVay couldn’t wait soon enough to unload Goff. So much so that even after the issues with Cooks, Gurley and others that he had the balls to still call Kroenke and bang the table for this deal AND trade more #1 picks.

Lastly, I get it. We are all Ram fans and this is a guy we drafted. This is a guy we went to the Super Bowl with. And by all accounts he’s a great guy. But aren’t you glad that despite all that you have a HC who has the balls to trade him if he knows in his heart that guy can’t win a Super Bowl. I’m sure both McVay and Snead wished that Goff could have been the guy.

In regards to the above I’ve always defended Goff but looking back now think about it. Outside of a few people on this message board , fans of other teams, announcers, talking heads and former NFL personnel haven’t said one good thing about Goff the last 2 years. Maybe, just maybe they were right.

And for those wanting to bring up the OL-they are still here-and we could cut any of them-and still might. Goff is gone-and we all know what that cost. So that should tell you where the coaching staff views the problem-just like the rest of the NFL.

 

[ProGen]

I view him as the Lions starting QB.

Training camp is round the corner

 

[thirteen28]

Short as it was, I still think it was an unqualified success, at least the last four years of it. "The worst of times" part could easily apply to Jared's rookie year, but that came at the end of a long stretch of offensive ineptitude driven by bad coaching, poor OL play, and shitty receivers, a situation that few if any rookie QB's could overcome.

After that, it was 4 winning seasons, 3 playoff appearances with a missed FG away from being 4/4, and a lot more good than bad. Goff's bad seasons here were good seasons for a guy like Sam Bradford (although in fairness, he suffered from the same conditions as Goff did in his rookie year). No, he wasn't as good the last two years as he was the prior two, but we still won more than we lost and had more good than bad.

He's gone now, and I'll root for his replacement to be every bit the upgrade that many believe he will be. But I'm still thankful he was our QB for the last few seasons and I think he's one of the better ones we had. Although it's hard to come by where he's going, I wish him success in Detroit.

 

[jjab360]

I'm left with mostly fond memories of a player who was very productive for the most part, took us to a superbowl, but unfortunately seemed to hit his ceiling. I don't have much of anything bad to say about Goff, just hope we're not left with a Kurt Warner situation where the player is always salty about how things went down at the end.

 

[thirteen28]

I'm left with mostly fond memories of a player who was very productive for the most part, took us to a superbowl, but unfortunately seemed to hit his ceiling. I don't have much of anything bad to say about Goff, just hope we're not left with a Kurt Warner situation where the player is always salty about how things went down at the end.

I can't totally blame Kurt for feeling that way, although the entire organization has turned over since then, with the exception of Kroenke who was just a minority owner at the time and had no role in it. Kurt shouldn't hold it against the present regime, but I don't blame him one bit for being salty for being thrown under the bus by the people who did so. And I certainly won't blame Goff for being salty for the same reasons with regard to those in our building that threw him under the bus this time. They could have handled this a lot better, even if they were planning on moving on.

 

[tempests]

In any event, we're at the end of Goff's time here, so how will we view him? Is his legacy the hefty price to acquire, pay and, ultimately, move him from the team? Is it the legacy of a QB who was good, but just not good enough?

As the QB who played a vital role in the Rams ending the worst streak of uncompetitive football in franchise history.

Didn't end well, but the man has two Pro Bowls, an NFC Championship win and QBd the highest scoring offense in football. Many good memories and those are the ones that last.

 

[badnews]

They could have handled this a lot better, even if they were planning on moving on.

That really is the bottom line here.

How will I remember Jared Goff?
As a likeable kid with a great arm and a laid back personality that didn't jive with McVay's personality.
As someone who played the toughest position in sports for the 4 best seasons in our last 20 years and as a guy who went out and played with a broken thumb and probably a broken heart- and won another play off game, then played well enough to win another.
I'll look back on the Goff era as great time of some of the best games I've watched as a Rams fan.
I'll remember the Vikings game, Chiefs in LA on Monday Night, the NFC Championship game where HE got us to the Superbowl (along with others too of course but he made some big plays when it mattered most).
I'll remember the passes Brandin Cooks could have caught in the superbowl. I'll remember the way he ALWAYS handed off at the goal line and got few easy TDs despite having amazing red zone efficiency stats.

He is the Lions QB now and I am a Rams fan. If he plays us I hope he loses. Otherwise I hope he wins em all.

 

[RamDino]

The team was fortunate to have had Jared Goff as their quarterback for the last 4 years. He was not only a decent QB, but he was also a good guy... a role model, if you will.

After the Super Bowl, I posted that this was Goff's team now, because we knew Gurley was done, and it was time for Goff to take the reins. All that success, all those great wins that this board has been discussing, Pro bowl recognition, and he played in a super bowl. For a 24 year-old guy that's pretty good. But McVay needed him to carry the team after that super bowl loss and, unfortunately, the next two years produced several ugly losses. McVay finally decided that Goff could not lead this offense.

I also wonder if McVay saw the emergence of Cam Akers and thought Goff should have produced even more with him back there. Akers had a pretty good second half... almost Gurley-like. You would have thought that with teams focusing on Akers, it would have opened up the passing game. It did not.

Me personally, I would have given him one more year. But if the plan was to trade him, the Ram organization did not have to humiliate the man. Good luck, Jared Goff... We wish you nothing but success in Detroit.

But I've been a fan for almost 50 years now, and been through all the moves, the horrible trades, the GSOT, the decades of losing, and the the worst ownership group in the league (Georgia and Shaw). I will get over this.

Go Rams!

 

[CGI_Ram]

As someone who played the toughest position in sports for the 4 best seasons in our last 20 years

2017, 18, 19, 20.... 43 wins

The best 4 years since 1999, 00, 01, 02... 44 wins

 

[CGI_Ram]

@RamsFanCK was the first I heard describe moving on from Goff as putting down a dog. It will be weird not seeing him in Rams promo stuff.

 

[Flipper89]

His wins since 2017 are second only to the GOAT, which include a Super Bowl appearance and tough road playoff victories. Not everyone you draft, even 1st overall, is an instant hall of famer. Winning Super Bowls is hard.

I consider his production with the Rams as a success, and if one doesn’t, it’s because you haven’t been around long enough to remember the fun QB performances of, say, T.J. Rubley. It just didn’t work out in the end and I hope he does well in Detroit. Goff had a good run here and is a stand-up guy- I don’t think he deserved snide Snead with the snide remarks.

I’ll continue to root for the yellow and blue laundry, this time instead of a #16 taking the snaps, it’ll be a #9. I’m excited for what that entails but if that too doesn’t work out, it’ll be next man up and we root for him. What the hell else can we do?

 

[Ellard80]

As it stands he is top 3 Rams QB of all time....

He looked liked he was headed to be the greatest for a time... then shit started going downhill.

 

[FrantikRam]

Appreciate what he did and unfortunately we will probably never hear it come directly from the Rams - but starting to hear noise about him not putting in the work, not taking accountability.

It is obvious that something went wrong beyond the play on the field and this fits.

So I'll remember him as a guy who played some great games and as a guy who may have stopped putting the work in once he got paid.

Really hope one of the players confirms or denies this because I doubt McVay will.

 

[Kevin]

I view him as the QB who won the third highest scoring game in NFL history and took us to a Super Bowl. One who needed more help around him than he got.

 

[SoCalRam78]

Nice guy. Average QB. Didn’t like the pick. Hated the contract extension. Wasn’t as good as he was made out to be in 17-18. League adjusted to McVay but they more so adjusted to Goff’s weaknesses. It’s not all gurley’s knee and losing saffold.

you can tell after two years of below average play, McVay was over him.

but a good dude.

 

[Oregonram]

According to Cowherd, the last straw for Goff was the loss to the whiners in LA. Remember, the folks from SF came in with Nick Mullins and beat us. Apparently McVay was extremely mad after that game, as SF has owned us the last 2 years. In that game Goff had 2 INT and a lost fumble. According to Cowherd, Mcvay called Les and Stan, and basically said....how much do you trust me? And demanded that they move on from Goff, and he didn’t want SF to get Stafford. Take it for what it’s worth.

 

[Mackeyser]

According to Cowherd, the last straw for Goff was the loss to the whiners in LA. Remember, the folks from SF came in with Nick Mullins and beat us. Apparently McVay was extremely mad after that game, as SF has owned us the last 2 years. In that game Goff had 2 INT and a lost fumble. According to Cowherd, Mcvay called Les and Stan, and basically said....how much do you trust me? And demanded that they move on from Goff, and he didn’t want SF to get Stafford. Take it for what it’s worth.

I very much enjoy Cowherd.

That said, he walks a tough line between reporting and opinion.

Is this another, "this is what I think happened" which is a fictional narrative that fits some of the facts? Or is this reporting?

I ask because the whole "this is what I think happened" is how the story of the Rams asking Goff's agent for money back got started... it was complete fiction.

 

[RamsSince1969]

I will forever remember how great I felt, being there in person to witness the 2018 Chiefs game and Vikings game. Both games, I almost passed out from screaming, yelling and jumping around like a little kid. I was almost in tears of joy both games and knew i was seeing something unbelievable and historic. Thanks Jared for playing out of your mind in 2018 and you will always have a special place in my heart for getting us to the SB. Also beating the Saints in their house to be NFC Champs, that was awesome and I was there to welcome you home at 1:00 AM in Thousand Oaks when the buses arrived from the airport. Many great memories. Best to you going forward!