More... Waldman of Goff/Rams

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waldman
IS JARED GOFF A PUPPET DOOMED FOR A LETDOWN?
My friend Josh Norris noted today that Rams head coach Sean McVay is taking full advantage of the ability to be in Jared Goff's ear at the line of scrimmage. The Rams often line up with 25 seconds on the play clock. It gives McVay and Goff a chance to see the defense and McVay to feed an audible to Goff before the helmet transmission shuts down.

Norris didn't criticize or even minimize Goff's performance in light of this information, but he rightly stated that McVay's usage of the time and technology was notable and although common in the college game, it's currently rare to other NFL teams. The resulting commentary on Norris' Twitter thread was filled with commentary from fans and some of them broached Chip Kelly and Nick Foles during Foles' lone strong year.

Naturally, there were suggestions that Goff is a fluke who needs McVay to be a good quarterback in this league and, if the NFL changes the transmission rule, Goff will be lost an unable to handle the complexities of the Rams system. This is a complete overreaction and simplification of Goff and McVay.

First, there is no point of comparison between Goff and Foles when it comes to execution. Foles always had issues handling pressure in the pocket and making erratic decisions in the middle of the field when pressure arrived. Goff has never displayed this problem. In fact, he's consistently shown poise, toughness, and smarts with throwing the ball away or taking a calculated risk that at least makes sense in theory.

Quarterbacking is a physical, technical, conceptual, and intuitive craft of execution and leadership. The best quarterbacks prospects have the skill to tie together what they do best with each of these components. After watching a season of tape to prepare for the Saints' game, Tony Romo had a lot of praise for Goff this weekend. Much of it was focused on the way Goff tied together technique, field awareness, aggression, and poise.


The points Romo makes about Goff's pocket presence and footwork in the clip below aren't dramatic changes to what Goff displayed at Cal. Rookies often display some uncharacteristic behavior when uncomfortable. Goff displayed more poise and pocket presence than credited last year. When he had lapsed, his feet weren't as quiet as what Romo discusses below.


I've often discussed Goff's ability to avoid pressure with efficient movement and linked it to the pocket presence we've seen from top pros. Romo breaks this down well, and again, it's not something Foles ever displayed in Philadelphia.

McVay, Matt LaFleur, and Greg Olsen have given Goff a sound framework to continue mastering the West Coast Offense and a stable and knowledgeable crew to maximizes Goff's strengths as a technician and on-field strategist. They didn't turn a proverbial bedwetter into a poised and steely-eyed field general. Goff was never the former.

If anything, McVay's presence in Goff's helmet will serve as a useful transition for Goff to eventually make sound audibles of his own choosing. The West Coast Offense is a difficult system and Goff had to learn it from scratch as a rookie and then McVay's play calls in Year Two. The Cal offense may not be as intellectually demanding with play calls and route variations, but it doesn't make Goff dumb.

However, we've heard these concerns before during the history of football. Otto Graham was a robot who didn't think because Paul Brown shuttled Don Shula and Chuck Noll from the sideline to the huddle with play calls. Joe Montana had scripted plays early in the game. The quarterbacks of the 1990s weren't calling the plays like the majority of great passes of previous decades.

It's far too simplistic to say that Goff is being fed answers to the test or a robot with his coach holding the controls. McVay's role is close to that of a good corner man shouting out salient advice during a prize fight. Goff still must understand the defenses and make the connection between the current defensive look and McVay's audible. Most important, Goff's integration of his physical, technical, strategic, and intuitive talents cannot be controlled by a coach on the sideline as the play unfolds.

This is where Goff is shining the brightest.