Goff, Woods rightfully earn top 10 duo honors for Rams from 2017 season

NFL.com recently named Jared Goff and Robert Woods of the Los Angeles Rams as one of the top duos from the NFL 2017 season.

Last offseason, the Los Angeles Rams understood the importance of improving their passing game since one of the main reasons why Jared Goff struggled so much as a rookie was due to the fact that he had one of the league’s weakest receiving corps to work with. And while there were plenty of fans who were scratching their heads at first over the team’s decision to sign Robert Woods right away to a five-year deal worth up to $39 million, Rams fans are thankful for the move after seeing the impact he made during the 2017 season.

Even before the regular season got underway, the chemistry between Goff and Woods was obvious when looking at how much the duo was clicking throughout offseason workouts, including training camp. Numbers wise, the 56 catches for 781 yards with five touchdowns may not seem like the most impressive on paper, but also keep in mind that Goff was one of the best quarterbacks last season when it came to spreading the football around, meaning these results easily could have been higher.

Still, the most important factor is the presence of Woods was one of numerous factors behind Los Angeles finishing the season with 11 wins on their way to the NFC West title. And thanks to the chemistry between Woods and Goff, these two were fortunate enough to be recently named one of the league’s top duos by NFL.com.

After coming in at No. 8 in the rankings, here’s what NFL.com’s Matt Harmon had to say about Goff and Woods:

"This placement might catch some fans off guard, but Jared Goff and Robert Woods absolutely earned this spot with their work this past season. Woods enjoyed a career year in his first season with the Rams. He averaged 3.04 yards of separation on his routes in 2017, the highest among the top four receivers on the team. Goff had a 114.9 passer rating on passes to Woods this year, third-highest among all quarterback-receiver connections with at least 60 targets. Despite the team’s higher-profile additions in big-name Sammy Watkins and rookie Cooper Kupp, it was Woods who proved to be the most effective target. Woods was electric in the Rams’ postseason loss, dog-walking the Falcons’ top cornerback, Desmond Trufant, up and down the field for 107 yards on six catches."

If the 2017 season is any indication of what the future holds for these two, the Rams have plenty of reasons to be excited about the duo of Goff and Woods over the next couple of years. Plus, depending on what happens with Sammy Watkins since there’s always that chance he ends up elsewhere for the 2018 season, Goff may have to rely on Woods even more next year, but hopefully Los Angeles can figure out a way to keep Watkins around.

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Either way, the important factor is the Rams deserve credit for realizing how special of a player Woods was around this time last year after signing him right away once the free agency period got underway. Assuming all goes well in 2018, there’s every reason to believe Goff and Woods will find their name on this list once again next season now that these two have a year of playing together under their belts.