Kevin O'Connell explains how Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff are similar

[theramswire.usatoday.com]
Kevin O'Connell explains how Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff are similar

Skyler Carlin
October 22, 2021 9:50 am PT

Kevin O’Connell, the offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, has had the opportunity to coach Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff in the past two seasons. We all know that Stafford and Goff are extremely different quarterbacks, as evidenced by the reputation that both of them hold in NFL circles.

Despite the differing qualities of both quarterbacks, O’Connell articulated how Stafford and Goff are similar.


“They’re both incredibly talented throwers of the football, just in its purest form. Different, but the way the ball leaves their hands it doesn’t take long being on the practice field as their quarterback coach (to see) that both guys throw the football at a pretty elite level,” O’Connell said Thursday. “I’m strictly speaking about a point A to point B and the variation of throws that NFL quarterbacks have to make. Both those guys are two of the best that I’ve been around doing that specifically. And then as far as some of the differences, I think the experience factor of Matthew over a lot of years, playing with a lot of different teammates allows him to do a lot of different things from a standpoint of versatility in the offense.”

There’s no denying that when Goff has a clean pocket and time to survey the field, he’s a talented passer. However, when it comes to the other areas of being a franchise quarterback, there’s a reason why the Rams found it necessary to acquire Stafford.

Stafford has Los Angeles sitting in a good spot with a 5-1 record on the season while Goff is on the lone winless team in the NFL. Even though Goff’s numbers haven’t been encouraging thus far, O’Connell still sees his former quarterback making positive plays this season.

“I think you see Jared, even this year, doing some things like that and things we did at times with him,” O’Connell said. “It’s just a matter of experience and he’s still – people forget that he’s still a young player by the measure of, I mean we’ve got one quarterback in our league that is saying he’s going to play till he’s 50-plus, it sounds like. So a lot of football ahead, a lot of good football ahead for both those guys. It’s just a matter of what makes the quarterbacks in this league unique is the ability to grow every single day. And we’re seeing that with a lot of guys around the league playing at a really high level. And I think those two guys fall right into that category.”

O’Connell sees similarities between Stafford and Goff, but he’s certainly hoping his current quarterback can outperform his former on Sunday.