After the 2015 season, the Los Angeles Rams saw that they were a quarterback away from contending. So they gave up the farm in order to draft Jared Goff at No. 1 overall. Quarterbacks drafted that high, especially with all that was given up for him, are expected to start from Week 1.
Rams fans sure have to be thinking that as the Rams made the move to go back to LA with a bang. And of course, Goff himself hopes and expects to be the starter for Week 1. It’s not like the Rams have great options in place at quarterback to start ahead of Goff.
But not so fast!
Goff has a long way to go in order to have the job secure when the season opens in September. On NFL Total Access on Thursday, NFL Media’s Steve Wyche didn’t sound like Goff would be ready to face NFL defenses anytime soon.
He said, “Jared Goff is nowhere near being ready to start Week 1. He’s only had offseason workout practices, but he’s swimming in it. Training camp is vital for him. I spoke to one team official that said they are looking forward to seeing him in pads and preseason games because his ability to improvise are some of his strengths.
But do not be surprised—I know the expectation is for him to start Week 1—but don’t be shocked if Case Keenum is the starter, because, again, Jared Goff has a long way to go.”
Head coach Jeff Fisher aggrees, telling
TurfShowTimes.com. Thursday, “It’s intellectually, it’s learning the system. “He’s got all the physical tools, makes all the throws and does all that, it’s just learning the system and then applying it to what we would call a fairly sophisticated defensive system.
“That’s hard. I also said that we’ll start him when he’s ready. I didn’t say that to imply that he was going to start the opener. I said, we have options.”
Goff has just a couple of months to figure thngs out too.
This could take a while!