Case Keenuim is starter; Jared Goff appears to be third optionBy Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News
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MINNEAPOLIS >> Words you never thought you’d string together in the same sentence one month ago: Take a seat, Jared Goff, here’s hoping we don’t see you start another game the rest of the 2016 season.
Sounds harsh, right?
Almost inexplicable considering the spot in the draft Goff was taken and the price the Rams paid to acquire it.
It’s not often a team pulls aside the first overall pick at the end of the last exhibition game and tells him they’d rather not see him play again this year.
But then, why would the Rams really want Goff to play significant snaps over the next four months when doing so means two bad things happening? Losing too many games or starter Case Keenum suffering an injury. Especially after the wobbly performance Goff delivered Thursday against the Minnesota Vikings.
With a chance to take a decisive step forward and ease some concerns and maybe even close the gap on Keenum, he took two major steps backward with a forgettable and regrettable showing that raises some legitimate concerns he might not be ready to take the field at all this year.
Forget the starting job, at this point Goff might not even be the best option as the primary back up. Sean Mannion seems to be in line to get that job.
“If we were starting right now, I’d probably have Sean be the No. 2,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said, dropping a bit of a bombshell.
Goff seemed taken aback upon hearing that, but stressed he’s going to focus on getting better regardless where his name falls on the depth chart.
“I feel like I’ve made big strides and I’m on the way to being where I want to be,” he said.
Perhaps.
But that finish line seems a lot further away now that anyone could have imagined.
Who would have figured that would be the case when the Rams gathered in Irvine a month ago?
Hard to believe, but the way Keenum has played during training camp and, frankly, the way Goff hasn’t, only a worst-case scenario puts Goff and the field this year. That’s a situation the Rams not only want no part of, it’s something they simply can’t afford. Not in Los Angeles, St. Louis or anywhere else they could have called home.
The Rams need to win and Keenum gives them the best chance to do that.
They need to finally pull away from the 7-9 mediocrity they’ve been mired in the last few years and it’s Keenum, not Goff, the most capable of making that happen.
“It’s going to take time,” Fisher said of the process to get Goff ready to play significant snaps.
That might be hard to swallow for some.
A couple months ago you’d have gotten a few angry looks and some choice words for even suggesting such a thing.
L.A. beamed when the Rams moved up to the first overall pick to land the franchise quarterback that’s eluded them for more than a decade. They aren’t great at every position across the board, but they’re elite in some areas and more than enough capable in others. Put a better quarterback on the field and it changes everything.
Goff, it was assumed, would add to the Rams mix the very thing they’ve been missing.
Two things most of us missed: How far Goff really has to go to be a reliable NFL quarterback, and how hungry and determined Keenum was to fend off the rookie and hold onto the job he took control of over the last four games of last season.
Give Keenum credit, he won the job hands down. If he keeps it up, the Rams have a chance to turn the corner.
As for Goff, there’s no way you could have watched Thursday’s exhibition finale against the Vikings and walked away convinced he’s even remotely ready to take the field.
That’s as disappointing as it is obvious.
Making his first start of the exhibition season, Goff helped lead the Rams on a seven-play 62-yard touchdown drive to open the game, but it quickly deteriorated into a bunch of misfired passes and turnovers, culminating in a disastrous close to the first half in which he mishandled a perfectly delivered shot-gun snap from center to set the Vikings up at the Rams’ 7-yard line, then threw an interception on the next play to gift wrap the Vikings the ball at the Rams 28.
The Vikings thanked Goff by tacking on 10 points in just less than a minute to take a 13-7 lead into intermission.
Goff’s final line: 6 of 16 passing for 67 yards, one touchdown, a fumble, interception and a 45.6 QB rating.
It was every bit as bad as those stats suggest and it continued a disturbing trend of uneven play by Goff during training camp and the preseason.
“I was happy with how we started,” Goff said. “Obviously you want to finish the half better.”
You can argue some of the struggles were they result of playing alongside mostly back-ups and fringe roster players, this being the last preseason game and teams putting all their starters and key players in bubble wrap ahead of their season openers.
But that’s a two way street, isn’t it? He also was playing against a bunch of back-ups and fringe players.
The caliber of supporting cast and opponent had nothing to do with the passes that sailed high and wide past open receivers or dropping a snap that hit him square in the hands.
“I just took brought my eyes up, you can’t do it,” he said.
And it had very little to do with the poor throw he made on the subsequent screen pass, only for it to get tipped into the air by defensive end Justin Trattou and into the hands of defensive tackle Tom Johnson for an easy interception.
That was all on Goff.
From the get go, the Rams preached patience with their rookie quarterback. At this point that’s no longer even a decision.
The Rams have no choice anymore than to wait.
And it looks like it might be longer than anyone imagined.
