The Rams are finally making the move to Jared Goff. Being 4-5 and coming off a 9-6 victory is as good a time as any to make a drastic change, so Jeff Fisher and the Rams are turning to the top pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. ESPN's Chris Mortensen first reported the news.
Goff, taken No. 1 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft, has yet to attempt a regular-season throw for the Rams. Case Keenum started the first nine games for Los Angeles.
The rookie will get to begin his career in front of the home crowd -- probably a pretty reasonable part of the equation to starting Keenum last week in New York -- against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
In terms of the timing for this start, things are a little weird. Many people believed Goff should have started out of the gates, and the play of Keenum pretty much justified that for several parts of the season.
Keenum's game-ending interception in London against the Giants was horrific. Los Angeles has managed to score more than 20 points just twice this season.
Maybe Goff wasn't ready to operate the offense, because of his transition from Sonny Dykes' "Bear Raid" offense to whatever it is that the Rams run.
It's hard to imagine that moving to a rookie quarterback, even one with 10 weeks of learning and nine weeks of clipboard holding, is going to magically transform the Rams offense. In other words, this doesn't look like Los Angeles making some bold playoff push by going with the youngster.
The Rams were in limbo at 4-5, clearly not dangerous enough to really make a playoff run and clearly limited by their quarterback. Seeing what Goff can do and getting him live reps in games for the stretch run makes sense.
Pressure from outside was even more intense for Goff, because of the success of Carson Wentz with the Eagles (No. 2 overall) and Dak Prescott of the Cowboys (fourth-round) so far this season. Even the Browns have gotten an extended look at Cody Kessler in the regular season.
It's hard to imagine Goff causes them to crater and miss the postseason. Maybe he's better. If that's the case, then suddenly he gets some momentum headed into his second year.
