Los Angeles Rams Hope To Rectify Goff Goof






Back in 2016, the Los Angeles Rams traded up to take Cal-Berkeley’s quarterback Jared Goff. They paid a king’s ransom for him. A massive trade with the Tennessee Titans that cost them multiple first, second and third-round draft picks over two years to move up in the NFL draft for the right to choose Goff as the number 2 overall pick. The Rams had a lot riding on Goff’s right arm. 





Goff hadn’t done well at the NFL draft combine where college players run through drills to show their physicality and mental prowess to NFL coaches. He is 6’ 4” and 215 pounds and mobile enough to appear to be an excellent quarterback.





It’s a textbook height and weight that makes NFL coaches work themselves into a tizzy. He looked like he was capable of doing it. If you were making a football movie, Goff was straight out of central casting. 





He didn’t stand out at the physical workouts. Goff scored low on the mental aptitude exam. They thought that with the right offensive system and coaching, he should succeed. 





I'm a Rams Fan





I have always been, but sometimes I wouldn't admit it. The San Francisco 49’ers embarrassed them year after year and I wouldn’t face up to the potential ridicule. They had just moved back to Los Angeles after 20 years of exile in St. Louis. I didn’t have a football team to be a fan of. I was going all in.  





When HBO announced the Rams were going to be the subject of their behind-the-scenes NFL training camp TV series Hard Knocks, I signed on. It was going to be fun to know my team.





I would finally be able to pick out the players and coaches I wanted to follow.  All the inside stuff. The uarterback is the team leader. I’d get to analyze Jared Goff. He’s going to be the star. 





It was a revelation in the first 10 minutes. 





It opens in the quarterback room. The quarterback coach is having a conversation with Goff. The coach then pauses and asks Goff in what direction the sun comes up.





Goff had no idea. The question baffled him. What direction does the Sun rise? Goff did not know!





The days of Goff living under the sun. All the classes he passed in school. I guess they passed him because they assumed he knew? He didn’t! He attended the University of California at Berkeley!





You’d think someone at some point would’ve asked. He had to take a quiz in the 4th grade. Never! 





Goff was going to have to understand difficult football offensive concepts. Intricate plays that would be the difference between victory and defeat, but he should be able to answer a question a typical 8-year-old Cub Scout has a grasp of. 





Goff was a disaster in his first season. 





He started 7 games and didn’t win any of them. He had more interceptions than touchdowns. Goff was bad. The Rams stunk. They fired the coaching staff. It all had a familiar feeling of the same old Los Angeles Rams. 





They brought in a new coaching staff the next year. The head coach is an offensive mastermind. He tailored an offensive scheme that Goff would be able to run. 





The opposing defense would key on the run. Goff would roll out and find open receivers. It worked! The Rams made it to the Super Bowl in Goff’s 3rd year. All looked well.





Until the star running back got hurt. Goff had to be depended upon to make adjustments. He didn’t. The system had to be changed. Goff didn’t have the mental acuity or toughness to do it. 





Thankfully, after last season, the Los Angeles Rams somehow duped the hapless Detroit Lions into taking Goff and draft picks to get the highly talented, underutilized, and long-suffering quarterback Matthew Stafford.





Stafford has physical talent that Goff doesn’t possess. He has a wealth of experience. Stafford possesses a hunger to win after 12 years in Detroit, a football Siberia. The Rams hope he can rectify the misstep.





If he knows what direction the sun rises, I’ll take him.


All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA,via Wikimedia Commons

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