Jared Goff clearly benefited from a change in coaching staff, but as long as the Rams win games he doesn’t mind a certain label.
The conversation about an offensive system making a quarterback or a quarterback making said system work at its peak will exist for as long as football is being played. After a dismal rookie season under Jeff Fisher, Jared Goff clearly benefited from Sean McVay’s presence as the Rams had the NFL’s highest-scoring offense last year (29.9 points per game).
Through two games this year, the Rams are fifth in the league in scoring (33.5 points per game), and seventh in total offense (398.5 yards per game). Much was made of McVay staying in Goff’s ear for as long as he could last year, with Goff having audibles essentially called for him.
It can be assumed Goff has better command of McVay’s offense this year, and he does not need the same babysitting he did in 2017. But that hasn’t stopped the idea of the 2016 No. 1 overall pick being called a “system quarterback,” and Goff addressed it during his Wednesday press conference.
“Yeah, I’ll be a product of the system if we win games, as much as I want. We just continue to go out there and keep playing, keep putting up 30 points and call me whatever you want. I feel like I’m just continuing to develop and continuing to get better.”
McVay called the system quarterback thing “a total discredit” to Goff during his Wednesday media session. That defense of his quarterback is to be expected from the head coach, and if Goff were to go down to injury the drop-off to backup Sean Mannion would be steep.
Tom Brady and Joe Montana have taken “system quarterback” dismissals (however tongue-in-cheek most of the time) to multiple Super Bowl rings. Goff is saying the right things, by not letting similar dismissal of his talent (however serious at this point) shift his focus away from the Rams winning games and meeting high expectations this year.