Quote
The_Bad_Guy
My main point, though, is that no matter what Goff might have absorbed above the shoulder pads ... whatever that might have been ... there's a good chance that at least some of it was completely lost by having to be in mere survival mode all the time.
Most of what Goff learned, I'm guessing, was an introduction to the physical realities of the NFL game. The physical toll it takes. The effort it requires. The ability level of the players. The speed of the game. That sort of thing.
Kind of like when the Metrons forced Kirk to throw-down with the Gorn on that famous episode of Star Trek. In this case, Fisher and Boras were the Metrons; the Seahawks and Patriots, et al, were bigger, faster and angrier versions of the Gorn. Kirk eventually used his massive intellect to build that cannon that stopped the Gorn; before that, though, he was in pure survival mode.
It's like my posts about Prescott. Does anyone really think that Dak - who I actually thought Fisher was going to go after, considering the man-love he had for McNair's ability to throw and run - would have been Rookie of the Year playing for the Rams last year?
As well as he played last year, the truth is Dak spent most of last season in what amounted to the NFL equivalent of a Barcalounger. Lots of built-in comforts that Goff just didn't have.
Make sense?
Well...it makes sense in that it's a reasonable argument. I just don't agree with it. I honestly believe people get too "out there" with Fisher stuff sometimes, while in contrast, I pay a lot of attention to context.
First, no, Precott playing on an offense that could not run the ball would not have done as well.
But then why couldn't they run the ball? And when I look at that, I see multiple reasons. Part of it was that Gurley kind of backslid. (I am still not completely sure he's "back" yet.)
I think that Goff was so far behind the curve that he would need seriously ideal circumstances to show well in 2016, and a team that had just moved, had a struggling OL (in spite of that same OL looking decent at the end of 2015), no running game, and so on was not ideal. But even under ideal circumstances he was still behind.
A lot of what he learned last year is so taken for granted watching football that we don't even think about it. When Goff got drafted he had never called a play in a huddle, so even just spitting out the play verbally without stumbling was a challenge. And that's just one of many many things.
Meanwhile Prescott DID go to an ideal situation. The team was not in the middle of a move, they had the OL, they had the running game, they had veteran weapons, and as it turns out Linehan's offense had influenced Prescott's college offense to the point where there was a lot of overlap. In fact for Prescott that was all ridiculously ideal. It's like a scene in a comedy where someone throws out his hands in exasperation and says "if only we had a crowbar" and one falls out of the sky right into his outstretched palm. That ridiculous.
And I don't care that much about the Fisher part of it. To me the issue is Goff. Was he that far behind? Yes, Air Raid qbs enter the league that far behind. Put a qb like that in live action with no running game and he struggles. BUT if he has the mindset and talent, going through that means he has less to learn in year 2. Personally that's all I see. I also like the combo of Olsen, Kromer, and McVay, and I have no doubt they will take advantage of what Goff can do in far better circumstances.
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