The Los Angeles Rams are finally giving Jared Goff a chance to play after drafting him No. 1 overall this spring, and the offense won’t be scaled back to accommodate the rookie.
Trusting that the highly touted rookie is in the right mental state to handle the same offense that they used when Case Keenum played, the Rams are throwing Goff into the deep end immediately against the Miami Dolphins this Sunday at home.
“We’re not scaling back,” quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke said, via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. “This kid understands what we’re trying to do on offense, he’s able to execute it. He had a good day of practice [on Wednesday], we expect him to have another good day on Friday. In terms of our approach as a staff, putting a game plan together, we’re obviously smart enough to say, ‘Hey, listen, we know what this kid does well, and we’re going to lean on those things.’ But we’re not going to scale back for him. We don’t need to.”
The Rams are sure choosing an interesting weekend to throw Goff into the fire. Los Angeles’ offensive line features a very squishy interior and will be going up against a dynamic Dolphins front four that has been coming together nicely of late.
Handling pressure wasn’t something Goff did well this preseason. It will be interesting to see if he has developed a new perspective on the NFL’s speed or if it will be a miserable outing for the rookie.
Los Angeles needs more consistency from its offense, and it needs more scoring. Since the offensive line has been so poor up front, Todd Gurley’s numbers are significantly down this year. Without him leading the charge, the passing game has floundered under Keenum’s guidance, scoring just nine touchdowns all year while coughing up 11 interceptions and 23 sacks.
It’s going to be fascinating to see if Goff can succeed in this environment. He struggled in his early seasons at Cal before blossoming into the guy who was drafted No. 1 overall this past April.