The NFL’s top overall draft pick is about to make his first start in the league this Sunday. Jared Goff will reportedly be the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams this weekend against the Miami Dolphins.
Jared Goff will start Sunday for the @RamsNFL against @MiamiDolphins in front of a home crowd, per team sources. QBs were informed this am.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) November 15, 2016
The Rams have been in need of a spark on offense all season long, which made the delay in throwing Goff to the wolves a bit intriguing. Head coach Jeff Fisher never wavered on suggesting the time will come when it is right to insert Goff into the starting lineup, but he never showed any rush to do so.
On one hand, it made sense to allow Goff time to learn a little bit more on the sideline before seeing what he could do on the football field, but with fellow rookie quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz showing some good things early on in Dallas and Philadelphia, the continued delay to have Goff take over a meager offense remained a point of frustration for Rams fans.
Goff will have the third-latest debut by a QB chosen with the top overall pick. Carson Palmer waited 16 games after being drafted in 2003 (that worked out alright), and JaMarcus Rissell waited 11 games before making his debut in 2007 (that one did not go as well). Will Goff be more Palmer or Russell?
Waiting so long despite an obvious need to upgrade the offense left the Rams open for criticism calling the drafting of Goff a mistake before he ever played a down. That’s a bit of a spicy meatball of a hot take, but is it true? That is a decision that cannot truly be answered midway through the season without seeing Goff start a game, and it will not be answered this season. The answer will come in the next few years, but the pressure is on now.
The Rams have scored just 15.4 points per game. They rank 25th in passing offense. Goff to the rescue? Let’s see.
Now we will get to see just what Goff is capable of doing, how he adjusts and learns on the fly, and what kind of future can be expected in Los Angeles.
