The No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft (Carson Wentz) has been his team’s starting quarterback since Day 1, and he has been lighting the league on fire. The No. 135 pick (Dak Prescott) has, due to injury, also been his team’s starter from Day 1, and he’s been nearly as good. Neither one of them seems to be having any trouble adjusting to the level of competition, the speed of the game, the quality of the defense, or anything else.
While they excel, the No. 1 overall pick (Jared Goff) has sat on the bench and watched his team’s starter throw up a passer rating (66.1) that ranks 31st among 32 qualified quarterbacks, a yards per attempt figure (6.14) that ranks 31st among the same group, and a completion percentage that ranks dead last. It took the Rams three weeks to score their first offensive touchdown, but they are somehow still 2-1 anyway.
Despite the fact that the offense has been largely dreadful, coach Jeff Fisher says he has no plans to change his timeline for making Goff the starter, even while rookie quarterbacks around the league have their offenses humming.
“No,” he said, when asked if the success of rookie quarterbacks around the league has gotten him thinking about speeding things up, per ESPN.com. “I spoke on that. I’m happy for young quarterbacks when they have success, but we have our own sense of timing here with him. The quarterbacks are having success because of injuries. As I mentioned last week, had we not had the injuries that we did in the league, probably all four of those quarterbacks either would be inactive or backups.”
Let’s put this out there: the rookie quarterbacks are not having success because of injuries. They got into the lineup because of injuries to Teddy Bridgewater (which motivated the Sam Bradford trade and thrust Wentz into the lineup), Tony Romo and Kellen Moore (which elevated Prescott to the No. 1 spot), Jimmy Garoppolo (which, after Tom Brady’s suspension, pushed Jacoby Brissett into a starter’s role), and Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown (which forced the Browns to turn to Cody Kessler). But they’re having success because of a combination of talent, preparation, teammates, being put in position to succeed by their coaches, and more.
We don’t know for sure whether or not Goff would be having the same level of success. Considering the deficit he’s at in the teammate and coaching department, maybe he wouldn’t. But the Rams can’t really go on much longer with Keenum at the helm unless Jeff Fisher still wants to be talking about 7-9 s— next year again.
Story provided by Jared Dubin