Goff to a great start

When the Rams finally got the go-ahead from the NFL to move to Los Angeles, there was a buzz of excitement and exhilaration for the city that waited 23 years for a team to return. Although the city’s first professional sports team came back, it came with a caveat. While the team features a Top-10 defense, the reigning offensive rookie of the year in Todd Gurley and a compact offensive line, the Rams had an a void at the quarterback position.

Now, they have the man of the hour.

After trading up and giving the Tennessee Titans a boatload of picks in exchange for the No. 1 pick in Thursday’s draft, the Rams have their quarterback of the future – Jared Goff..

Goff’s quick release and tenacity makes him the most pro-ready quarterback and ultimately a franchise quarterback the Rams can lean on.

In a division like the NFC West, having a play-making quarterback is critical and because the Rams have lacked one, they have been an afterthought in the division. But now they have their man.

At just 21, the three-year quarterback out of California was selected by the Rams as the top pick in the draft – which was inevitable after the Rams made a blockbuster move to snag the pick from the Titans. The Rams are arguably one of the deepest teams (talent-wise) in the league and did not have too many holes they needed to address in the draft.

The one position they absolutely had to nail was quarterback. Last season, the Rams’ pair of quarterbacks – Nick Foles and Case Keenum – were statistically one of the worst tandem in the league. Overall, the Rams’ pair of quarterbacks combined for 2,880 yards in 16 games.

Goff, on the other hand, racked up 4,719 yards in his third and final season at Cal. Those statistics are high, but the defensive competition in the PAC-12 is not even comparable to the defensive schemes Goff will face against the best in the NFC West, like the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals.

Quarterback is the most pivotal position in the NFL and the Rams have not had a top-tier signal caller since they had Kurt Warner under center. Now we know why the team hasn’t made the playoffs since 2004. Back then they had Marc Bulger, but he was an average quarterback that played in then-head coach Mike Martz’s pass-friendly offense and had a plethora of playmakers.

The Rams thought they picked up their franchise cornerstone when they selected Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford out of Oklahoma in the 2010 draft. But injuries derailed Bradford’s career with the organization, which left the team without a consistent quarterback.

Although anything is possible in the league, the Rams gave up a pair of first, second and third round picks in the next two years for a reason. The 6-foot-4-inch Goff has the mechanics and size to be the guy that gets the ball out to the Rams’ talented wide receiver Tavon Austin and running back Todd Gurley.

And remember, the last quarterback to come out of Cal in the first round was Aaron Rodgers. In the seven seasons that Rodgers started for the Green Bay Packers, he’s only immensified himself as one of the Top-3 gun-slingers in the NFL and led the Packers to the playoffs six straight years in a row and won it all – Super Bowl XLV – in 2011. Although Rodgers only played two years at Cal, Goff threw more years in his freshman and sophomore season (7,481) than Rodgers’ (5,469). However, Goff had less to work with in his time at Cal than Rodgers did, and he helped turn around the program after it went 1-11 in his freshman season.  

Considering that, Goff has a good combination of talent and experience coming into the league, which will help him battle through the rugged NFC West. Now that the missing piece to the team has been found, fans have even more reason to celebrate its return to LA.