Written by Luke Kerr-Dineen at For The Win.com
Last week was the tipping point. With the Rams looking uninspired and ineffective in its 13-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, the crowd finally pushed Jeff Fisher to turn to rookie quarterback (and first overall pick) Jarred Goff.
But Fisher remains unfazed. During a press conference on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reports that the job is still Keenum’s:
Fisher might be comfortable with his situation, but he is not yet comfortable enough to play Goff.
He continued to say that “Jared’s improving,” but reiterated that Keenum would start on Sunday against a New York Jets team that is 3-6 and features the NFL’s 13th-ranked defense.
“Case right now, especially against this defense, gives us our best chance,” he said.
And then, Ian Rapoport followed with this interesting nugget:
“My understanding of the Rams quarterback situation,” Rapoport said, “is that they’re not going to make a switch — barring some sort of epic collapse by Case Keenum — until they fall out of playoff contention.”
It’s past the point where it’s become weird that Goff hasn’t been handed the starting job. It’s becoming abundantly clear that there are some serious questions over Goff’s overall ability — and, by extension, his potential. This isn’t a coach being excessively conservative or gun-shy. This is a coach who’s lack of faith in his supposed franchise quarterback is, frankly, alarming.
There is no good reason Goff shouldn’t be starting.
The logic for giving him time to learn on the sidelines is little more than a fallacy. If a quarterback is going to be good in the NFL they generally show promising signs early, and if they don’t, with the rookie salary cap in effect, it’s never been easier to cut ties and move on.
Indeed, that mindset has been on full display this very season, with Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott both being thrown in the deep end and treading water just fine.
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