Rams taking old-school approach with Jared Goff
The Los Angeles Rams are being patient. Instead of forcing 2016 first-overall pick Jared Goff into the fray immediately, head coach Jeff Fisher is taking a decidedly more cautious approach.
While the current flavor around the league is to take high-profile, early selections (especially at quarterback) and jam them into the starting lineup ready or not, the Rams bringing Goff along slowly. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the choice is another topic entirely, but give the team credit for realizing a young player with potential is exactly that.
Sometimes, the sports lexicon forgets that these are young kinds coming into a league with grown men who have 10 years on the job. Goff is coming into a world that often demands he translate raw ability into football acumen from Week 1 on, much in the way that Andrew Luck, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco did.
However, people forget about all the successful quarterbacks who had some time to ripen on the vine. Dan Marino didn’t start his rookie year despite being a first-round pick. Joe Montana, somehow a third-round choice in the 1979 NFL Draft, didn’t start until the middle of his second campaign. In more recent times, Aaron Rodgers sat for years behind Brett Favre, waiting to take over as The Man with the Green Bay Packers.
In short, there is no right way. The Philadelphia Eages are thrusting Carson Wentz into the lineup for his first career start on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. Most believed that Wentz would need a year to learn the NFL game and Philadelphia’s complex playbook. Instead, Wentz – who was taken one pick after Goff – will be under center this weekend.
If it goes well, Wentz will be hailed as a conquering hero in Philadelphia. If it doesn’t those fans will run him out of town within a New York minute.
In Goff’s case, the preseason showcased his need for time. He was brutal in his outings, consistently turning the ball over and missing open receivers with bad throws. Had Goff been forced to play this year, he would have gotten his confidence shattered. Fisher is smart enough to realize that his best long-term hope is to let Case Keenum take his lumps, perhaps give Sean Mannion a look, and then turn the keys over to Goff when the time is right.
The Rams are not going to be good this season. Whether they start Mannion, Goff or Keenum, this is a team without an offensive line and no receivers to speak of. At best, it is a .500 team that keeps playoff hope alive into December.
Why rush Goff into that situation? Let him mature, and think of the future.
