Everybody would universally agree that Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff took major strides in his development last season.
Never mind the numbers — even though they were drastically improved — the player himself improved. Starting with his base, Goff’s footwork seen major improvement. His poise. His accuracy. His decision making and ability to read defenses. And maybe most importantly, his confidence.
Now, he isn’t the perfect QB. He’s still got factors of his game to work on. His accuracy could always improve (particularly on the deep ball).
Steven Ruiz of ForTheWin ranked all the QB’s in the league, and Goff landed at #21 for him:
Playing in Sean McVay’s offense sure can make a quarterback look good. About as much as playing for Jeff Fisher can make a quarterback look bad. In last year’s edition of these rankings, we were higher on the 2016 first-overall pick more than most after his rookie season. Why? For many of the reasons that made him so good in 2017: Goff knows how to work the pocket, doesn’t need much time to find an open receiver and has the arm to get it anywhere on the field. But Goff’s accuracy needs to be better if this Rams offense is going to hit another gear in 2018. He left too many big plays on the field a season ago.
The description of Goff is generally spot-on and fair. The questions begin to flow when you see that Derek Carr, Ryan Tannehill, Jammy Garpolopo, Jameis Winston, Sam Bradford, Marcus Mariota, and Dak Prescott are rated above Goff. All of these guys have questions of different varieties (injury, bad seasons, barely any experience, etc) so it’s strange to see some ranked above Goff.
The major knock for Jared at this point is probably playing under Head Coach Sean McVay.
Does McVay simplify the game for Goff? Yeah, he does.
Should that necessarily be a knock on Goff? No, it shouldn’t.
Even Tom Brady who is one of the greatest QB’s in NFL history has had his offense tailored to his current day strengths; and I can assure you, they’re not the exact same as they were 5-10 years ago.
At this point, the only thing Goff can continue to do is improve, win games, and put forth solid performances. Maybe then the perception of Jared Goff will change.