LA Rams: How each quarterback fits into the evolving offense

Jared Goff is the bridge towards the LA Rams future offense

Rams starting quarterback Jared Goff is the prototypical WCO quarterback. Goff has played well since receiving the keys to the offense in 2016. He will be playing in his fifth pro season in 2020.

Goff has completed 1,166 passes for 14,219 yards with 87 touchdowns. He is sixth on the Rams all-time passing yards list. After this season, he should move into fourth place.  Still just entering his second NFL contract, the sky is the limit for Goff in terms of his NFL career.

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The one thing terribly lacking in Goff’s skill set is his threat to run with the ball. He is simply not known as a running quarterback. Rather, he is a throwback to the pure pocket passer in the fashion of every WCO quarterback before him. NFL schemes continue to evolve and will always evolve towards the optimal ways to help teams win games.

As soon as the LA Rams emerged so quickly as an NFL Super Bowl contender, numerous offenses began to replicate the offensive tendencies of McVay’s Rams offense. While that is certainly a compliment, it allowed NFL defenses more familiarity. That, in turn, made the going that much more difficult for Goff and the Rams offense in 2019.

Goff fits McVay’s version of the Rams offense, a running style offense which then uses run-pass option plays to freeze the defenders and pass the ball beyond the first-tier coverage. He prefers to run the ball up the gut and devour defenses with play-action passes. Goff is in his element when the play-action moves up and down the field.

Until the new quarterback is ready, Goff is the bridge from the old scheme to the new Rams offensive scheme. How long that bridge will be is all up to how effective Jared Goff is this season. The LA Rams made him one of the richest players in the NFL, only to watch his productivity tumble.  To avoid “buyer’s remorse”, Goff will need to rebound nicely this season.

The LA Rams 2020 NFL Draft and undrafted free agent signing period afterward showed which new weapons and which new direction the Rams are now considering towards the future team success. Veteran QB Goff gets the honor of breaking the new receivers into the speed of the NFL game. He has a big contract and how many times has that prevented the Rams from making moves? Here are the next quarterback and his fit.