Los Angeles Rams Explain Why Jared Goff Isn't Starting

The biggest question in the Los Angeles Rams universe is: when is 2016 No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff going to play? The team’s quarterback coach may have shed at least a little light on why Goff isn’t starting yet.

QB coach Chris Weinke spoke to Emily Kaplan of MMQB and explained that Goff’s development is “a process” and the team knew it would take time when it drafted him earlier in the year:

“I get it, that’s the big concern right now,” quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke told The MMQB. “Here’s the No. 1 pick, other guys have played, it’s human nature to question, why hasn’t this guy? The simplest answer is it’s a process. We’re not working on one particular thing. We’re really working on a number of variables. Could he be playing right now? Is he capable of playing in the National Football League right now? My answer would be yes. But if we’re being truly honest with ourselves, and we knew when we went through the process of drafting him, we knew it was going to take some time, and we were OK with that.”

Despite head coach Jeff Fisher shooting down rumors that Goff is a long ways off from being ready, those same rumors have gained some traction. Case Keenum has been just plain bad this season and the Rams keep running him out there anyway. If Goff was truly ready, he’s be the better option over Keenum, however the Rams clearly don’t see it that way.

Weinke made it clear that inserting Goff into the lineup wouldn’t necessitate huge changes in the playbook:

“If Jared Goff is playing quarterback, we’re not going to change our offense,” Weinke says. “We have a library [of plays] where we are always able to cater to the quarterback. I mean, that’s just being smart. We do that for Case Keenum, and obviously for Goff we’ll do that as well, where we call things he’s comfortable with and likes. I think we’re being smart right now in not rushing him into a position—not that he’s going to fail, we’re not saying that—but we want to put him in a position to be successful.”

The best-case scenario here is that Goff is ready and the Rams don’t want to throw him into the current mess that is their offense. The offensive line is playing poorly, Todd Gurley can’t get anything going with teams stacking the box and the Rams have a lack of viable options for Goff to throw to.

All of these things could hurt Goff’s progression, so in that sense it’s logical if that is the true reasoning behind what the Rams are doing. On the flip side, Goff might need more time and doesn’t present the Rams with an upgrade over Keenum yet.

With all the rumblings about Goff, you knew this kind of explanation was coming. Rams nation is beside itself at the fact that Keenum continues to play and the Rams have a No. 1 overall pick sitting behind him who is doing nothing to help the situation, which is no fault of his own—or is it?