Jared Goff was one of the top 2016 Nfl Draft picks and spent his entire season struggling on a very bad Los Angeles Rams football team. His struggles helped cost Jeff Fisher his job as the head coach of the Rams when the team fired him in December. Fisher didn’t actually even start Goff until Nov. 20 and that was after he was forced to give up on Case Keenum, who had led the Rams to a 4-5 record to start the season.

Goff came in and finished the season, losing the last seven games. Jared showed up at the Rams minicamp weighing 10 pounds more than he did in 2016 and hopes to improve in his sophomore season.

Jared Goff’s potential

In the 2016 NFL Draft, there were two quarterbacks that most teams were targeting. The Los Angeles Rams gambled and took Jared Goff while the Philadelphia Eagles grabbed Carson Wentz. Out of the two, Goff was considered more NFL-ready after playing college ball at Cal, a Pac-10 school, while Wentz played for small North Dakota State. By the end of the season, Wentz had started every game for the Eagles and Goff only got half that time in on the field.

Carson Wentz finished with 3,782 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. His quarterback rating was 79.3 and he led the Eagles to a 7-9 record. Jared Goff threw for 1,089 yards, with five touchdowns, and seven interceptions. His quarterback rating was 63.6 and he lost every game he started for the Los Angeles Rams. Another rookie, Dak Prescott, was a fourth-round pick, threw for 3,667 yards with 23 touchdowns and four interceptions. His quarterback rating was 104.9 and he led the Dallas Cowboys to 13 wins.

The Los Angeles Rams don’t expect Jared Goff to turn into another Dak Prescott in 2017. However, the Rams would like to see Goff put up numbers closer to that of Carson Wentz and win them some games.

If Jared falters in 2017, Los Angeles could move on since he was a Jeff Fisher draft pick.

2017 Rams outlook

Interestingly, the Los Angeles Rams are sleeper picks by a number of ESPN NFL experts. After a season where they started strong and then lost a lot of games to fall hard, some experts see optimism in Los Angeles. Jared Goff said that adding the 10 pounds in the offseason is making a difference in his own mind. He said that he is less likely to break tackles now and he feels that security in the pocket. Since the Rams gave up the second most sacks in 2016, that is a huge difference.

The biggest change with the Los Angeles Rams is new head coach Sean McVay. While he is one of the youngest coaches in the NFL, McVay is the former offensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins, where he helped Kirk Cousins become a legitimate starting quarterback. McVay doesn’t mind the extra weight to make him sturdy but wants to make sure he is still fluid and flexible. If he is, Jared Goff might be ready to lead the Los Angeles Rams back to respectability.