With Rams’ quarterback, Jared Goff’s dreadful performance in the most important game in his career, I now question is Goff what we all originally thought, a bust?
In order to fully understand the Rams’ situation, it is necessary to look back to when they were in St. Louis. After years of disappointment, the Rams realized they had to change, in August 2012, they hired old fashioned, conservative head coach, Jeff Fisher. Fisher was unwilling to adapt to the new, fast pace, trends of the NFL, if the Rams knew what they were getting out of the hire, it wouldn’t have even been considered.
During Fisher’s time in St. Louis, he walked in having a quality defensive unit and a half-decent offense, this core could’ve carried them to the playoffs and maybe even a few wins once they got there, but Fisher ruined it. The St. Louis Rams tanked.
While Fisher was still the head coach, the Rams were dreadful, however, this rewarded them with high draft picks which would turn into the building blocks of their current, great team. They drafted three standouts, consecutive Defensive Player of the Year, Aaron Donald, former Offensive Player of the Year, Todd Gurley, and first overall pick, Jared Goff.
These three cornerstones of the current Los Angeles Rams should’ve definitely gotten the Rams at least one winning season while still in St. Louis, unfortunately for St. Louis natives, all this talent was wasted by the devil, Jeff Fisher. Donald was labeled as just a star when he was much more. No one was certain of Gurley’s potential after a great rookie season, followed by a poor one. And Goff was a bust.
The blame for the Rams’ poor performance each and every season can’t exclusively fall on Fisher though, the city of St. Louis lacked the attractiveness to attract free agents that’d help this core be successful. They needed a location change.
St. Louis Rams owner, Stan Kroenke recognized the opportunity the Rams had if they moved back to LA. There was controversy for a few years regarding the Rams’ move to LA, Kroenke was unethical to St. Louis natives, lying straight to Rams fans, but eventually, despite the controversy, the Rams found themselves in LA searching for a new head coach to mentor their young quarterback, Jared Goff, attract free agents, and carry a talented Rams team to a winning season.
The Rams found every teams’ dream coach in Washington Redskins’ offensive coordinator, Sean McVay. Once the Rams moved to LA, they felt pressured to make big moves, and now that they’re in the popular city of LA, they were able to. They signed a risky head coach, McVay, beefed up their offensive line with veterans like tackle, Andrew Whitworth and center, John Sullivan, recruited Robert Woods, and replaced some of their steady defenders for guys with a low floor, but a high ceiling.
All of this talent would make almost any quarterback look good, and that’s what happened with Goff. His time in St. Louis was forgotten, and he was crowned as elite for changing the league’s lowest scoring offense into the league’s highest scoring offense, however, most of the credit should be given to McVay, Woods, and the offensive line.
I wouldn’t label Goff as a bust quite yet, but if he continues to falter in the biggest moments, he may be. Almost regardless of his performance, if McVay scouts someone he really likes out of college, the Rams shouldn’t be hesitant to trade up in the draft for that guy to replace Goff. Elite quarterbacks are immune to mental pressure and their opponents’ game-plan, Goff is not, and if the Rams can get one, they will be unstoppable.