Rams coach says Jared Goff is starting QB ‘right now,’ leaves door open for change

The Los Angeles Rams spent the first overall pick on Jared Goff last year after packaging a handful of selections to move up for him. Their willingness to part ways with so many valuable picks showed how committed the Rams were to Goff and to making him their franchise quarterback for many years to come.

It took him a while to get on the field after a rough offseason and preseason, but Goff eventually took over as the starter after nine games of riding the pine. He didn’t win a single game and had five touchdowns to seven interceptions, bringing into question whether he’s truly a future All-Pro.

The Rams have said very little about their quarterback situation, but on Tuesday, first-year head coach Sean McVay left the door open to a possible change, despite calling Goff the starter.

“I think what we’ve tried to preach to our players is we’re going to let the best players play. We’re trying to win football games and whoever we feel like gives us the best chance is who’s going to play behind center,” McVay said, via the team’s official site. “Right now, we feel very good about what they’ve both done. Jared has done a nice job getting better, but you always want to make sure that you’re playing the guy that you feel like gives you the best ability to win football games, because we owe it to our coaches, to our players and to this organization to do that. I think what we’ve seen is good for those guys, but right now Jared’s the starter and he’s done a nice job commanding that role.”

The only real competition for Goff is Sean Mannion, who was a backup in 2016. He only has 13 career pass attempts, so his experience has been very limited, but the Rams don’t seem to be ruling out the idea that he could potentially win the starting gig.

It’s not that the Rams are wrong for opening the door at quarterback, it’s just a bit surprising that Goff hasn’t been solid enough up to this point to take complete control of the job. The fact that McVay said “Right now Jared’s the starter” is a bit telling, seeing as he could have easily said “Jared will be the starter in Week 1.”

Of course, this could just be McVay trying to keep all of his options open while making it clear to other players that there are no favorites, but it’s hard to imagine Mannion beating out Goff in training camp.