LA Rams will pit Goff in fierce QB competition this season

The tempest surrounding the LA Rams‘ displeasure with starting quarterback is no longer guesswork. It’s real, and it’s out there for everyone to see. In fact, the only controversy remaining in the future is what course of action the Rams’ organization will take.  After all, the path forward is not an easy task by any means.  The Rams committed significant financial resources to young quarterback Jared Goff, expecting him to fulfill his half of the contract and improve.

There is certainly an argument to be made that he has failed to uphold his half of the contract. Much like the contracts signed by WR Brandin Cooks and RB Todd Gurley, the Rams do not fail to step up to compensate their star players appropriately. But when those highly compensated players regress?  The Rams just as quickly moved on, with rumors of both players on the trade market in early 2020.  Of course, the Rams had other players on the roster to step up.

Jared Goff does not have any competition on the roster, right now. That is why the LA Rams brought in offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell to try to ‘fix” Goff in 2020. And in some ways, he did. Goff enjoyed a career-high in throwing accuracy in 2020.  And in the early part of the season, Goff seemed to stand taller in the pocket, avoid the pass rush more easily, and remained focused upon throwing to the open receiver more effectively.

How real was Goff’s late-season rally?

But it didn’t last. Goff regressed once more. In his first 11 games, Goff’s interceptions and fumbles totaled 17.  Over that same timeframe, Goff had thrown for 16 touchdown passes and rushed for two more for a total of 18. And he was sacked 16 times over that 11 game stretch. The result was head coach Sean McVay publicly blasting Goff for turnovers.  The result of that public flogging? Goff threw for six touchdowns, was sacked 14 times, and turned the ball over just three times over the last six games.

11 games to 17 turnovers. Six games to three turnovers. But is it too little too late? Based on LA Rams head coach Sean McVay’s closing comments at the end of the Rams’ season? Yes.  McVay is emphasizing the need for quarterback competition, a point that we lobbied for nearly a year ago.  The Rams never added a veteran quarterback, forcing the Rams to hang on for dear life whenever Goff was simply gobsmacked by aggressive defenses.

Of course, part of Goff’s reclamation occurred after a devastating thumb injury forced him to the bench to watch as backup quarterback John Wolford played to victory against the Arizona Cardinals in the season finale. Wolford was not overwhelmingly good, but he certainly showed more composure in the pocket, did a better job against defensive pressure, and found deep receivers often enough to keep the chains moving.

Rams have not effectively addressed the quarterback role since 2016

Since the 2016 NFL Draft, the LA Rams have shut down any attempt to strengthen the quarterback position on the team. Shut down as the team never sought any viable alternative to Jared Goff under center. Yes, the Rams have signed guys to join the quarterback room. But they had added a devalued quarterback from the Jacksonville Jaguars in Blake Bortles on a one-year deal in 2019. They added undrafted quarterback John Wolford that same year. They added Jaguars Brandon Allen in 2017, and cut him in 2019.

Goff had understudies his entire time with the Rams under head coach Sean McVay. Understudies. Not veteran mentors. Not competition. And certainly not veteran leadership. Jared Goff joined the LA Rams under former head coach Jeff Fisher, who had a bad streak of hiring the wrong guy as his offensive coordinator. That created a streak of bad coaching for Goff’s rookie season and a revolving door of coaches that he answered to ever since.

For his quarterback coaches? The Rams had  QB coach Chris Weinke in 2016, Greg Olsen in 2017, and Zac Taylor in 2018. In 2019, the quarterback coach mantel fell upon TE coach Shane Waldron.  Finally, Goff now answers to offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell and assistant quarterbacks coach Liam Coen.

Coaching carousel for five years

Goff’s offensive coordinators have seen equal turnover.  Rob Boras was the Rams OC in 2016. Matt LeFleur was the offensive coordinator for 2017. The Rams abandoned an offensive coordinator role in 2018 after Matt LeFleur left. The Rams promoted OL coach Aaron Kromer to run game coordinator, and TE coach Shane Waldron to pass game coordinator in 2018. Two years later, they restored the offensive coordinator role under O’Connell

That turmoil and turnover have been anything but positive for Goff, who has had 10 voices directing him over the past five years. At no time did Goff have two consecutive seasons with the same coaching support. If you want to diagnose what NOT to do with a franchise quarterback, this is a good case study of how to ruin quarterback talent. Never the same coach in two consecutive years?  Wow, that’s… horrific. And it’s never mentioned in the analysis of Goff. Young players need guidance. The Rams basically took a young quarterback out for a drive in the country, kicked him out of the car, and are now scolding him for not being able to find his way home.

So what can the Rams do if their constant stream of different coaches has waylaid his development? After all, with so many persons directing him in new ways, and perhaps some conflicting priorities, have the mixed messaging over the past five NFL seasons tampered with a good development of a good quarterback? Let’s face it. The damage, if any, is done. The only hope for the Rams now is to hope Goff finds the path to greatness. How can the team help? Well, they can set up the position for greater competition, that’s what.

Goff may be a fixture on the Rams roster, but his starting role can be up for grabs

The Rams may have assured that Jared Goff will remain on the roster of the team for the next several years, but that does not guarantee him a starting role. Goff gets paid, yes. But he gets paid whether starting or sitting. While that makes the Rams very foolish indeed for paying so much for a player to sit, the key to this strategy is to make Goff uncomfortable enough to refocus his play to improving each year.

That means that the Rams will need to add quarterbacks to the roster. Not just undrafted free agents, but quarterbacks whose talents and experience give them a viable chance of pushing Goff in practice. Or, at the least, a veteran mobile quarterback who can serve to mentor the dual-threat quarterbacks who are trying to develop quickly enough to compete for playing time.  Wolford has a game under his belt, and that will certainly help.

There will be free agents, some of whom are happy to stay on an NFL roster. We saw big named quarterbacks happy to play for cents on the dollar. Some did okay. Others did not do well at all. So that may or may not be a good strategy for the Rams to infuse immediate competition into the quarterback position.

I feel a draft in the room

So the Rams will likely turn to the 2021 NFL Draft for a quarterback to compete. If the Rams had selected quarterback Jalen Hurts in the 2020 NFL Draft as we had lobbied, would the Rams be in a similar quarterback controversy as the Eagles are now? Or would Jalen Hurts have saved the Rams season, by winning in Arizona and Seattle, and giving that Packers defense too much field to defend?

The Rams have plenty of good options at quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft. And with no 2021 NFL Scouting Combine, how many talented signal-callers will fall to the Rams on day two? Well, there will be a few, and if the Rams truly want competition at quarterback, that is the best place to find it.

Do not expect 2021 to ease the restrictions on NFL teams in terms of face to face encounters with players. No ‘All’s Clear!’ has been sounded. COVID-19 protocols will likely be enforced through the 2021 NFL Season as well. So rookies will have a longer path to develop. Even if the Rams draft a quarterback in round two, he may not take the field in all of 2021. That’s okay, as long as the threat of him doing so exists. After all, Goff needs to be pushed to compete, not to despair.

McVay needs new quarterback capabilities to invigorate his game planning on offense

How many times do you rearrange the furniture in your house? Well, if you are married to a Gemini woman, that can be several times a month. While that can be disruptive and busy-work, it also forces the residents in that home to consider other patterns of furniture placement to make the home just as warm and inviting, if not more so.  And there it is, the benefit of changing because it forces the human mind to reorder stored knowledge and experience into new patterns, and perhaps with an even greater positive outcome.

The difference between McVay calling plays for Wolford and McVay calling plays for Goff seemed to be noticeably different in two distinct ways. For Goff, McVay seemed to have unmet expectations. Routinely mentioned in post-game press conferences was the inevitable phrase: ‘We got the look that we wanted, but didn’t seem to connect on the throw’.

Goff has been the only quarterback to play for McVay in a meaningful game until the season finale against the Arizona Cardinals. So what does that do for the innovative process? What has changed for the LA Rams in their offense over the course of the past four seasons? Well, the receiving corps has changed a bit. And the running backs have gone through a bit of transformation. But Goff is Goff. Dependable, predictable, and the constant concerns over whether good Goff or bad Goff will show up.

Time for a cool change

Meanwhile, when Wolford played his one and only game, McVay seemed to beam with a bit more pride: ‘I liked what he did out there. He made the right decisions on where to go with the football’. That set the stage for the end of the year press conference where head coach Sean McVay stated clearly ‘Jared Goff is the starting quarterback, right now’.

That brings us to the here and now. McVay has stagnated in his offensive strategies. Even as Goff had regressed, McVay’s playcalling seemed to fall into a very predictable pattern. If the running game was effective in a close game, invariably the Rams would turn to pass on first and second down, only to turn to the run with a third down and long situation.

The Athletic’s Rich Hammond was ingenious in sarcastically pointing out the irony of the play calling during games. After all, it’s always better to laugh in the face of frustration. Of course, rumors of alternative quarterbacks and their availability will continue to make the news this offseason. The Rams could make a bold move this offseason.

In the end, the Rams will place a fork in the road. But I’m becoming more skeptical with a major move this offseason.  The team made great strides, yes. But the loss of Staley on the defensive side of the ball will refocus the team to securing the defense first and foremost. The Rams will give this offense one more shot at improvement. Of course, drafting a quarterback this year makes perfect sense, just as adding a fullback does as well. But the clock is now ticking for Jared Goff.  And that message is already loud and clear.