Jared Goff back at No. 1 for the 2016 NFL Draft

Nov 21, 2015; Stanford, CA, USA; California Golden Bears quarterback Jared Goff (16) throws the ball under pressure from Stanford Cardinal linebacker Peter Kalambayi (34) during the fourth quarter at Stanford Stadium. Stanford defeated California 35-22. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

California quarterback Jared Goff is back in pole position to be the first quarterback taken in the 2016 NFL Draft. 

He slid out of it briefly with some so-so performances but the other quarterbacks started to falter as well. Christian Hackenberg is out of the first round now, Paxton Lynch has been exposed and Connor Cook is injured. He didn’t look like the best quarterback prospect right before he was injured anyway.

So all Goff had to do was step up against Bay Area rival and No. 11-ranked Stanford to take his spot back. Winning would have obviously done wonders for him but that wasn’t exactly necessary. No one expected him to win that game while many thought it would be a blowout with the lack of talent around Goff.

He just needed well against Stanford’s pro style defense to raise his draft stock above the other quarterbacks. And Goff did play well, keeping his mechanics clean, going through his progressions and throwing strikes. On the night, he went 37-54 for 386 yards and two touchdowns to make it a reasonably competitive game.

On the season, Goff is a top-5 passer in college football, completing 65 percent of his passes for 32 TDs and 13 INTs. California’s Bear Raid Offense is like the Spread Offense but has pro style rout concepts and progressions to it. If Connor Cook comes back healthy and plays well, his strictly pro style offense will be an advantage for him.

But right now, Goff is back in pole position to be the first quarterback to hear his name called at the 2016 NFL Draft.