Heading into the 2019 season, things looked bright for the Los Angeles Rams. Fresh off of a Super Bowl trip, the team had secured its star players to lucrative long-term deals after finally inking quarterback Jared Goff to a record-breaking extension.
Unfortunately, Goff, as well as star running back Todd Gurley, failed to play up to their pay grade. Goff saw his total passing yards, touchdowns and completion rate all drop while his total passes thrown and interceptions increased.
After his subpar season, many questions have been raised surrounding Goff and the Rams offense in general. Of course, the Rams offensive line had new starters seemingly every week, which certainly did not help the quarterback find any consistency.
Despite the rough year, Goff’s teammates have stood by him. Earlier this offseason, Cooper Kupp made it clear that he has faith in his quarterback and now Brandin Cooks has done the same, via Doug Farrar of USA Today:
“Absolutely. Yes, he is the guy,” Cooks said of Goff when I raised that question. “I mean, you talk about a guy that … we had so many different position changes along the offensive line last year. And for any quarterback, that is so tough. To still be able to stand in there and take the licks, it goes to show you that this guy is willing to do whatever it takes to win for his team. And at that young an age, when you have that mindset, special things happen.”
Goff showed determination in the face of adversity this past season, whipping up numerous drives that looked like the Rams from their Super Bowl season. Despite that, the offense faltered more often than not.
Even though Cooks supports his quarterback, his numbers did take a significant hit. Cooks failed to reach 1,000 yards for the second time in his career, while also experiencing the lowest touchdown total. He was subject to a number of hard hits that placed him under the concussion protocol, which played a part in his down season as well.
The Rams passing offense was significantly easier to read without the threat of Gurley’s run-game. Although Gurley played in 15 games this past season, he was a much less explosive player than in years past. He averaged just 3.8 rushing yards per attempt en route to his 857 rushing yards.
With that being the case, the Rams offense will have many questions to answer before the start of the 2020 season. Although there is no one fix to this team, it should lift Goff up to have a supportive group of teammates.
Whether Cooks will be on the team in 2020 remains to be seen though as the Rams have been shopping him in trade rumors. Coming off a down year and given his injury history though, his contract may not be easy to move.
