9 best backup quarterbacks in Rams franchise history

VIII: Jared Goff

Although he was selected with the first overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft, quarterback Jared Goff began his NFL career by backing up veteran quarterback Case Keenum for the LA Rams. Now, make no mistake, he was always going to start, eventually. But he was a rookie in 2016. And despite being the first overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft, he was raw and untested.

At 6-foot-4 and 217 pounds, he has all of the physical tools to run an NFL offense, and did so for the Rams. Despite his 0-7 start in his rookie season, he was merely getting his feet wet. By the time that the Rams hired new head coach Sean McVay, Goff was a seasoned veteran who was more than prepared to excel.

Goff was just what 2017 Rams needed

Excel he did. Jared Goff's stats with the LA Rams, despite the slow 0-7 start, are enough to propel him to fourth-best among the Rams Franchise All-Time Passing leaders with 18,171 yards. Perhaps even more impressively is that he needed only 69 games to reach that lofty mark. So why isn't he ranked higher?

Call it temporal bias, but I cannot overlook the fact that so many believe that Goff's production was entirely dependent on Rams HC Sean McVay's offensive strategy and playbook. Unfortunately, there is some evidence to support that theory. Still, the Rams were able to get to achieve a record of 42-27 behind quarterback Jared Goff. And now, with the Detroit Lions, he is showing resiliency as he just led them to a 9-8 record.

Despite the furor over the Rams decision to part ways with Jared Goff after the 2020 NFL season, the Rams certainly pivoted from a struggling team to one that dominated the NFL offensively. Goff may play for the Detroit Lions now, but his place has been cemented among the Rams best quarterbacks in the history books.