ESPN: Jared Goff's Progress | Analysis

this is a good read and very accurate IMO

[www.espn.com]




Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams

After a horrifically bad rookie season, there was nowhere for Goff to go but up in 2017. The Rams doubled down with infrastructure to support their struggling 2016 first overall pick this offseason, trading for Sammy Watkins, signing Robert Woods and the aforementioned Whitworth in free agency, and hiring Washington wunderkind Sean McVay to take over as head coach.

The early returns are shockingly good. Goff had his best performance as a pro by a comfortable margin on Sunday, throwing for 306 yards and a touchdown as the Rams cruised to a 46-9 victory over a scarily hapless Indianapolis Colts team in the opener. The Los Angeles defense chipped in with 16 points and limited the Colts to just one drive lasting longer than five plays all game, and Goff held up his end of the bargain, posting a 61.6 Total QBR.

Even before the Rams were comfortably in front, it was clear that McVay's game plan was to make life easy for Goff. His first pass attempt was a straightforward run-pass option (RPO), with Goff reading a linebacker and dropping in a simple slant to Watkins for 13 yards. Given that Goff's confidence appeared to be completely sapped by the end of last season, it's not a surprise that McVay started him off with a quick pass.

As the game went on, McVay's playcalling created easy completions for Goff. An end-around to Tavon Austin yielded a first down early, so the Rams faked the end-around later in the first half and Goff threw a screen to Todd Gurley for 23 yards.

Play-action was a huge differentiator for this Rams team. The running game wasn't particularly effective, even during Los Angeles' lightning-quick sprint to the lead in the first half, but that didn't matter. In 2016, Goff posted a 65.0 passer rating and a 30.3 QBR on play-action passes, which was 41st in the league. On Sunday, though, Goff was 6-of-8 for 127 yards after those same play fakes, producing a 95.2 QBR. McVay used the play fakes to free up the intermediate level for Goff, who found comfortable throwing lanes and looked both comfortable in the pocket and decisive in where he wanted to put the football.

Naturally, Goff wasn't perfect. Several times he dropped back on third-and-long and threw a pass to a covered, contested receiver nowhere near the sticks, although I wonder if that might have been McVay insisting that the league's most-sacked quarterback get the ball out to avoid strip sacks. Goff whiffed on a third-and-3 throw to an open Cooper Kupp that ended the opening drive and forced the Rams to settle for a 49-yard field goal. Kupp would later be forced to make a circus catch on a Goff overthrow despite being wide open on a corner route, although Goff would make up for it by throwing his prettiest pass of the day to a streaking Kupp for an 18-yard score.

It's virtually impossible to evaluate Goff outside of the context in which he played. The Rams led the entire way. They faced a lethargic, self-destructive Colts team missing its best players on offense (Andrew Luck) and defense (Vontae Davis). Indy's offense went 0-for-11 on third and fourth downs. Coach Chuck Pagano couldn't even get the opponent's name right after the game. Adam Vinatieri missed an extra point. Adam Vinatieri!

At the same time, though, Goff faced a similarly dreadful 49ers team in Week 16 last season, and he didn't look competent then. In a winnable game at home against the league's 28th-ranked defense by DVOA, Goff went 11-of-24 for just 90 yards with a touchdown off a short field, two picks and four sacks.

This Goff is unquestionably better, even allowing for how awful the Colts looked. He also gets a relatively easy slate of defenses to start the year, given that the Rams will face Washington, the 49ers and the Cowboys during the first quarter of the season. It's too early to say that Goff has turned things around and will deliver on the promise he held coming out of college, but this was the first time Goff looked like a viable professional quarterback in the NFL. That alone is progress.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2017 12:38PM by Speed_Kills.