The Los Angeles Rams decided to make a change at quarterback going into Week 11, as after another game without a touchdown in Week 10 against the New York Jets, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher decided it was time to switch from veteran Case Keenum to rookie Jared Goff.
The start will be the first in Goff’s career, as despite the Rams trading up to draft him with the top overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, Fisher decided that he was not ready to be the team’s starter at the beginning of the season.
Instead Keenum was pegged to lead the offense, but his and the rest of the offense’s poor play has the team at 4-5 and on the outside looking in to a playoff spot right now.
When asked about why he made the decision now, Fisher said that he felt it in his heart, via Myles Simmons of therams.com:
“I felt in my heart — I was getting closer and closer over the last couple of weeks. I felt like this was the best time to go ahead and turn the keys over to Jared,” head coach Jeff Fisher said after Goff’s first practice as the starter. “We’re excited for him. He had a good day today. He’s into the plan, he’s really excited.”
Goff said that Fisher sat him and Keenum down to tell them the news:
“He sat me and Case down and just told us, just straight up,” Goff said. “Again, I was excited. I’ll say it now, I can’t stress enough how awesome Case has been before this, in training camp, in OTAs, now this has happened after. On and off the field, I can’t stress enough how good of a teammate and how awesome he’s been with it.”
Keenum will remain a captain of the team for the rest of the season in addition to being a mentor to Goff as his backup.
Fisher also recently said that the playbook will not be limited with Goff under center despite his lack of experience.
