When will Goff play? Here's the answer.

I don't think it's a "mystery" at all when Goff will get his chance. The situation has to be right.

Fisher is a long term thinker. He's extremely player friendly (WAY too player friendly in my book). And long term he wants to break in rookie QBs slowly. He will only start Goff in a situation in which Goff's chance to get knocked around and fail is the minimal possible.

From a strategic standpoint, he has a starter on his roster (Keenum) that he has confidence in. So who does he play in game 1?
If he starts Goff, and he plays well, great. But the offense hardly showed any indication during preseason that it was ready for Primetime.
But if Goff starts and the offense sucks and he has to bring in Keenum, that's a disaster for Goff, for PR, and for Fisher and Snead.
If he starts Keenum, but he's so-so or plays poorly then at some point during the season he can bring in Goff and figure he can do no worse (and besides as a rookie he's going to get much more rope) so team expectations won't be so high.
But if Keenum plays OK as starter, and wins some games, then Goff continues to sit and learn and Fisher can breathe a sigh of relief.

I suspect that Fisher would like to give Goff some minutes during a game before he's named starter. Perhaps Keenum gets dinged, or perhaps the Rams are well behind late in the 3rd quarter. Goff is immunized from a loss, and has an opportunity to shine. Unlikely Goff gets brought in if the Rams are way ahead, because unless he can at least maintain that same lead, it'll be seen as disappointing.

I suspect the trigger will be if the Rams go on a 2 or 3 game losing streak and it is clearly because of poor offense. If the Rams lose 2 or 3 in a row and a home game is coming up, that's when we could see the switch. Because at this point, the Rams season is likely lost and expectations are low. Goff can play and make his mistakes and the season won't be hung around his neck.

But if Keenum plays .500 ball? I doubt Goff sees the field.

As of now Keenum gets 2 more games because they're at .500. Even a loss at Tampa is not likely to trigger Fisher turning to Goff since the next 2 games are on the road, and game 4 is against the Cards who are clearly the best team in the West at this point. If Keenum wins 1 of 2, he'll continue right through the Buffalo game (game 5). If he loses both, and his play isn't very inspiring, we could see Goff, at home against Buffalo.

But when Goff plays this year, it will happen strategically and not merely because "Goff's ready" as Fisher keeps saying because in reality you can't tell in practice if a player is ready; you can only tell when the bullets are live.

The minute Fisher started Keenum in game 1, it meant that he was intent on protecting Goff. So he'll only put Goff in when the situation is the best....or if he has no choice (such as injury).