So the theme of this game has been Goff, Goff, Goff. From the folks on NFLN gushing over his start, to several videos dedicated to him on NFL.com, I'm beginning to think this is something akin to the 'Second Coming'. I do not watch college football outside of the SEC (mainly Ole Miss), and I certainly do not know anything about this kid. I have watched some videos on YouTube just to get an idea on his game. Here's what I saw: Preseason stuff was very rookie-ish - Took some hits and made some bad tosses leading to INTs - Maybe hurt his knee on a slide (noticed he wore a brace on his left knee in college) - Ball rose on him a bit on some throws (nerves or technique?) - Staring at receivers; even pre-snap College stuff - Gets the ball out of his hand quickly - Some balls rise on him (technique again, or knee brace inhibiting him from stepping into throws?) - Sneaky heat on his throws - Wobbly ball at times (small hands?) - When on, ball placement is unbelievable! - Lot of shotgun - Can move the chains with his legs - Makes throws (really good ones) with someone in his face - #4 wideout on Cal impressive (sorry...kid just jumped out at me) - Really slippery - Almost an Aaron Rodgers body technique when throwing (chest facing target instead of front leg, which brings me back to the knee) Anyway, this is about what I got. I don't amateur scout players. I watched two videos that seemed relevant without sound (once each). So let's play D-coordinator or scout. What do some of you guys see out of Goff? I think this would be neat to see if we can predict how Miami might approach defending him. Looking forward to seeing "what you see".
Goff's Preseason Passes: Week 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHUcQc0gEVI Week 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOLp-Sv4FqA Week 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPxlV9SYPfY I did not find anything from his performance against the Broncos in Week 3. However, the biggest thing that sticks out to me with Goff is how hesitant he is in his decision-making. This occurs particularly on plays that he's required to read both route tree development and the defense's coverage scheme. On less complex, single-target plays, his release is fast, his accuracy is good, and the hesitancy is, quite predictably, a non-issue. I suspect we'll see a lot of the "dink and dunk" passing game on Sunday, save for a few long-bombs to test the coverage. Should be easy to stave off as long as the tackling is sound; can't allow blockers to get in front of the receivers all day.
In my opinion, there's only one way to play a rookie QB with this defense- rush him from all angles and sit back in zone waiting for the stupid pass. LA currently has a bottom-5 line in the NFL and it's insane to place a rookie out there under those circumstances (umm, sort of like we did with Tannehill?). So even though we will get pressure with rushing four, I think we bring extra heat early and let the kid self-destruct. I honestly don't see him finishing the game.
Watching those clips the first thing that struck me was how much pressure the OL was letting through. The throws he was completing were simple routes and if the first read wasn't open he looked like a deer in the headlights. He lost the handle on a couple of deep balls when he felt the pressure coming. If the OL is bad and he plays like he did in the pre-season in this game it's going to get ugly for him. He has to have improved in practices because at 4-5 the Rams are still in the hunt in the NFC. How that translates against a hostile pass rush that is allowed to hit him is the 64 thousand dollar question
I wouldn't blitz him anymore than any other QB, because then you are actually giving him a way to beat you. Think of the Battle of Sterling, had the english not committed their heavy calvary, they would have won easily. A heavy blitz would infer that you are afraid of him, and saying to yourself, "live by the sword, die by the sword", because when you blitz, you leave open areas. It could work like a charm, but I'd hate to see us lose because we blitzed too much.
Honestly if you didn't know who Jared Goff was and you watched his preseason performance, you'd have to be told he's a #1 overall type prospect. Every aspect of the professional game was overwhelming him on that preseason tape. The pure talent is just not that high quality. I mean throwing talent, things like accuracy and spin, not just pure throwing power. And he certainly isn't scaring anyone with his scrambling abilities. The best thing the Vikings can do is to just make things easy on him. Get him some max protect, manipulate the personnel, formation and motion to get Miami into easily identifiable coverages, and then have him complete passes underneath the coverage. Then you can stick in one or two deep shots with max protect, hope you catch Miami's defensive backs sleeping, and look for Todd Gurley to do the rest. That's really all they can do.
Right now, as we speak, the difference between he and Brandon Doughty is nominal at best. I don't know how that shakes out long term. But that's what is on the preseason film.
I'm sure he has gotten better than he was during the preseason. I hope we win the next two, but I expect a different Goff than what the preseason showed.
Maybe. But he's had no more full speed reps to get used to the speed of the game, which was absolutely overwhelming him in the preseason. There are preseason performances where things didn't quite work out the way you hoped for a myriad of reasons, and then there are preseason performances where the speed of the game was clearly overwhelming you. His preseason performance featured the latter. And I don't know that practice reps as the backup are going to improve that much. I think either the Rams are going to do a really good job making things really easy and digestible for him, or he's going to struggle a whole lot.
I think you have to early because the scouting report is that he's been overwhelmed with all the moving pieces. And I think if you get a few big hits on him in the first series, Goff self-destructs. That's just my opinion though because he's so green and likely not ready to start in the first place. The one thing our team is GREAT at is punishing quarterbacks (and then getting holds on 3rd down to negate that)....so let's hope for the first half of that statement without the 2nd. He has been taking snaps with the ones for several weeks now and they say he's making his reads a lot better. But I'd have to guess that practice with a red shirt on is a whole lot different than actual games, so I think you're mostly right. He may have progressed seeing his open man and/or looking at 2nd/3rd options, but I don't think he's ready by a longshot.
Doughty can read defenses and find the open receiver. Doughty never got a snap with the starting team. He would do well with the Rams and their 2 TE offense. I was not impressed with Goff, certainly not as a number 1 pick.
We are going to feast on this kid Sunday. Hand size would've removed him from my board in the first two rounds, and you can see the issues even in those short videos. Just doesn't have command of the ball. Comes out funny at times, sails on him, zip is only occasional. I remember watching a few Cal games and thinking he was super streaky. Maybe that's a confidence thing, or rhythm, I dunno, his protection was really weak. The Rams OLine is awful, especially in the run game. Their offensive coaching staff is similarly terrible. I expect they'll emphasize quick passing, and as a result I expect our DLine to bat down a bunch of passes.
Along with his hand size he just looks so fragile which I think bodes well for our defense. If they shake him up quickly this could get ugly.That is what I am hoping for.
