How Kevin O'Connell can get Jared Goff's groove back
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Eric D. Williams
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell first spotted quarterback Jared Goff at Elite II camp as a skinny high school kid from the Bay Area.
Even then, Goff’s ability to throw the football stood out.
“I do remember watching him throw at one point,” O’Connell said. “I do remember being around him, not necessarily a time to develop a relationship, but I noticed him throwing the football.
“I notice guys who have become first picks in the draft, and what you notice pretty quick is their ability to throw the football naturally, be accurate, the arm strength -- all those things. And now being here, I already articulated exactly just how impressive some of the things.”
Fast forward eight years later, and O’Connell is tasked with getting Goff back to playing at a Pro Bowl level. For Goff, the focus has been better footwork and throwing mechanics under duress -- getting more comfortable throwing accurately from inside the pocket when bodies are flying around him on game day.
With so many explosive, fast athletes on defense, second-reaction or off-script throws have become bread-and-butter plays for quarterbacks. Think how Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers or Ben Roethlisberger regularly manipulate a pocket to distort the defense downfield, creating a big play.
These days it’s rare for a signal caller to take a seven-step drop, hit his back foot and deliver a strike to his first read without getting any kind of pressure, or have tight coverage move the quarterback off his target to the next option.
That said, during training camp the first thing O’Connell works with Goff at the start of each practice is making throws when the pocket is muddy.
“Very rarely does it feel like you’re throwing on air when the pass rush is live, and the full speed live action is going,” O’Connell said. “So we try to simulate, first and foremost, getting the fundamentals sound from a clean pocket.
“And then a lot of what we’ll do and have done already, and what we’ll do moving forward will be to continue to challenge him when that chaos surrounds him. How can we maintain our fundamentals to be accurate, make good decisions with the football, play with great timing and kind of run the show.”
Goff has quickly built a trust with O’Connell because of his coaching acumen and the fact the San Diego State product played in the NFL for four seasons. For both player and coach, developing that rapport helps create a positive energy on the practice field.
“He’s been incredible,” Goff said about O’Connell. “He’s been really good and you can tell he knows what he’s doing and has done it at a high level. It always helps when you have a guy coaching you that has played the position as well, and he’s done it at the highest level. It’s been a good marriage up to this point and I've enjoyed it.”
But ultimately, the NFL is a results business, and Goff needs to perform better under duress.
“He’s incredibly talented,” O’Connell said about Goff. “As a former quarterback myself that sometimes had trouble throwing it, I knew where to throw it but couldn’t exactly always throw it exactly where it had to go. We’ve worked a lot on his fundamentals, worked a lot on his lower half, his base, you know, having a little bit more athletic stance and posture throughout the sequence of a snap.
“And to me what it’s translating to, is just his natural accuracy. It’s truly something really special and that’s what we’re working towards. Seeing how many times in the confine, of an NFL pocket and the confines of an NFL game.”
