At this time a year ago Jared Goff was a lost puppy.
During his rookie minicamp, the Los Angeles Rams' No. 1 overall pick struggled to understand verbiage of the play, move the offense in and out of the huddle, and get the play off on schedule.
Battling the leap from college to the NFL, Goff struggled mightily in preseason action and began the year behind Case Keenum. When he was finally put on the field in regular season, Goff was a one-read quarterback fighting to control his own offense, let alone read the defense.
Flash forward to this offseason and Goff has apparently made big strides.
NFL Network's Steve Wyche reported on Tuesday's Up To The Minute Live that Rams GM Les Snead told him Goff returned this spring with a better grasp of what's expected of him as an NFL starter.
"The one thing (Snead) likes about Goff is Goff understood he had to understand the language and the alignments of the scheme," Wyche said. "So when they came up for their minicamp right before the draft, he said Goff was right on point. He said after the minicamp, coaches said (Goff) exceeded expectations. And to quote Snead, 'Last year he was a blank slate, now that is no longer the case. He understands what NFL offenses want, and more importantly, he understands what NFL defenses want to do.'"
The Rams' paint-by-numbers offense was the butt of league-wide jokes in 2016. Some of that had to do with the former coaching staff, some with an atrocious offensive line, some with a lack of playmakers, some with Todd Gurley's struggles, and some with Goff's difficulties making the transition.
With Sean McVay taking over, upgrades on the offensive line through free agency, and adding pass-catching targets in the draft, some of those problems should be in the past. Goff's leap in Year 2 could be the biggest boon of all.
According to Snead's assessment, Goff is on his way to putting the rookie struggles to bed and becoming the player L.A. believed it was mortgaging the future to obtain.
