To say that Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff’s potential is rooted in a 28-point loss to a non-playoff team in 2016 is unusual.
But that’s what new coach Sean McVay points to as his starting point in helping Goff reach that potential.
In an interview with MMQB’s Albert Breer, McVay said he was “excited” about working with the second-year quarterback based on Goff’s play during the Rams’ 49-21 loss to the New Orleans Saints in November.
If you buzz through that game, there’s a handful of plays that get you encouraged, where he’s moving, he’s making athletic throws, and he’s showing he can take a hit and get the ball out. He made a lot of throws in that game you get excited about. And he’s doing things mentally, where you can see he’s making protection audibles and getting the ball where it should be vs. those pressure looks.
Goff completed 12 of 20 passes for 167 yards and threw three touchdown passes in the first half in that Nov. 27 game in New Orleans, and the Rams trailed 28-21. Goff’s potential didn’t look as tantalizing in the second half; he completed 8 of 12 passes for 47 yards with one interception.
But McVay saw what he wanted in terms of determining Goff’s potential.
“The two characteristics that we really value a lot from that position—are you a natural thrower of the football, and are you tough enough not to flinch in the face of the rush?” McVay told Breer. “He has both those things.”
To capitalize on the potential, McVay added that Goff has to be able to gain enough of an understanding of the offense to articulate why he does or doesn’t like a certain play—as McVay said both Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy were able to do when they all were together with the Washington Redskins.
Goff’s potential is evident, McVay says, by the fact that there’s enough evidence on game video to suggest Goff can become a productive quarterback.
You see the natural thrower, you see the toughness, those are the things you get excited about. And then, what you also appreciate is, if this guy stayed in college, he’d be a senior right now without even having redshirted. … So he has a lot of maturing and developing to come. When you see those kinds of skills, it gets you excited about the opportunity to work with him and try to help him develop and reach that highest potential.
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