The Los Angeles Rams kicked off their return to Southern California by giving away some future assets to select quarterback Jared Goff with the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, the buzz surrounding the rookie quickly wore off after he spent most of the season on the sidelines, only to come in and struggle with this lackluster Rams offense.
However, bouncing back from an abysmal season is something the young quarterback has already had some experience with as a freshman at Cal. According to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN, Goff feels the similarities between his time at Berkeley and Los Angeles which makes him optimistic this team can move forward in the years to come:
“I think the best part about it was that we weeded out the people we needed to weed out,” Goff said. “We changed the culture in the building, and then we won in the coming years with the same guys that were 1-11 the year before, and that’s kind of what I expect to happen here, as well.”
In order to do so, the Rams will need their young signal caller to make some tremendous strides in the offseason. The rookie failed to take the starting job from a downtrodden Case Keenum, who was seemingly benched due to popular demand. When he finally did take over in Week 11, Goff ranked near the bottom of nearly every major passing category.
While it was obvious he was stuck in perhaps the worst situation a rookie quarterback can find themselves in terms of coaching and supporting cast, the journey back to playoff contention starts with him.
