3 reasons LA Rams WR Brandin Cooks bounces back in 2020

II- Help is coming for quarterback Jared Goff

The LA Rams placed a lot of the team’s offense on the throwing arm of quarterback Jared Goff in 2019, and he was simply not ready for it. After 2018, the Rams were placed into the unenviable position of trying to reduce the workload of the feature running back Todd Gurley.

The solution for 2019? Eliminate carries altogether and push those plays into the pass offense, forcing Jared Goff to throw the ball nearly 2/3rds of the time. The offensive linemen continued to fall to injury as the offense became more and more of a one-trick pony.

Jared Goff may be the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, but he is not the top quarterback in the league. And he is far from the most experienced quarterback in the NFL.  So it’s not wise to simply just start off a game by asking Goff to thread the needle on difficult throws or hurl it far downfield to a speedy Cooks on a post route.

New offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell is taking over coaching Jared Goff. That will pay off huge dividends for Cooks in two ways.  The first is Goff will have a better handle on his throws, and will not miss a wide-open Cooks nearly as much.  The second is that Goff will have a greater say in the playbook, and will have a chance to build confidence early in the game. That confidence will pay huge dividends when he is asked to make the tough throw to Cooks.