Los Angeles Rams: Charles Robinson explains why Rams soured on Goff
Blaine Grisak
he full details behind why the Los Angeles Rams traded quarterback Jared Goff may never be fully known. Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson sheds some light on the situation.
Los Angeles Rams
The full details behind why the Los Angeles Rams traded quarterback Jared Goff before his extension even hit may never be known. Goff signed his extension with the Rams shortly after taking the team to the Super Bowl. Under two years later, and he’s no longer not only the franchise quarterback, but he’s no longer on the team.
Senior NFL Reporter for Yahoo Sports Charles Robinson sat down with Michael Holley and Michael Smith to explain how the relationship between Goff and McVay soured so quickly. It’s a lot so I’m going to break it up into three sections.
“I remember talking to McVay last summer and he was telling me that he was really excited about Jared Goff. He kept talking about how excited he was for Goff to grow beyond him. What he meant was, your elite quarterbacks, they put their imprint on the offense. They don’t need a coach constantly micromanaging it when they get to a certain level. They put their own fingerprints on it. He was anticipating that. He wanted that from Jared Goff. That’s really what he was pushing for.”
This goes back to right after the Super Bowl and when Goff signed his long-term extension. At that point there was no reason to think that Goff wouldn’t be the Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback for the next 10-15 years. This coach-QB duo had potential to be the next Belichick-Brady or Montana-Walsh. McVay anticipated Goff to take the next step and make the offense his own a little bit as he moved into year three. Like Robinson said, this is what you get from the elite quarterbacks in the NFL.
Robinson continues:
“About a month left of the season, I started talking to people there. What I kept hearing was, ‘He keeps making the same mistakes over and over.’ A guy literally said to me, ‘He’s making mistakes that a first year quarterback shouldn’t be making in the NFL and he’s still making those same mistakes now.’ Sean had a pretty negative opinion of him down the stretch. From what I understood internally there, it was Sean looking at his offense (after the Super Bowl) and going, Im going to constantly be needing to change and update my scheme and what I do to keep it ahead of the curve. He looked at Goff and said, this guy has to change with me. He’s got to come with me on this journey and he felt like Goff just wasn’t.”
Again, this shouldn’t be anything that Rams fans don’t already know. Over the last two years, Goff kept making the same mistakes over and over. He was simply reckless with the football at times as he ranked near the top of the league in turnovers. After seeing how John Wolford ran the offense, heading into the Seahawks playoff game, it was clear he felt like Wolford could run the offense how he wanted to call it. Goff never evolved after 2018 and that resulted in taking a step back.
Last chunk here:
“(McVay) felt like (Goff) was falling off and McVay couldn’t bring him along. What I was told, when Sean was off it and said, ‘This isn’t the right guy for the offense. We’re not going to win a Super Bowl with this quarterback.’ That was the end of the conversation. Then it was, ‘Now we got to trade this guy.'”
This is clearly how it went down after the season. McVay went to Snead and said we can’t win with Goff and therefore they started to explore trades. It also brings to the point that, if this doesn’t work out and Stafford doesn’t win or the offense looks the same with Stafford, this is now on McVay. He can’t hide behind the poor play of Jared Goff. Stafford is considered a top-10 quarterback by some. If McVay’s offense remains the same, that’s on McVay and it’s on Snead for complying.
The Rams went all in for Stafford and now it’s championship or bust.
