[PARAM]

I'll begin by acknowledging I am a huge Jared Goff fan. Always have been since he became the franchise QB under McVay. Still root for the guy, so long as it doesn't affect the Rams fortunes. I'll also admit, I've been a huge Stafford fan since his Georgia days. The thing I respected the most, prior to his joining the Rams, was his toughness and ability to play through injury. Ironically, Goff has the same chops, as does Stafford.

After the 2020 season McVay and the Rams moved off of Goff and onto Stafford. It was accepted McVay wanted more from the QB position. It was hinted there was a rift between the two. In either case it was a good decision at the time and still is today. We can revisit that discussion if Goff wins a Lombardi before Stafford gets another. Until then, it's a no-brainer.

They each have played 4 years for McVay. Goff and the Rams won more regular season games than Stafford and the Rams. We know who's won more postseason games in L.A.. Goff had more passing yards than Stafford, more TDs and more completions but he threw more passes and played 5 more games.

Here's the tale of the tape:

Wins: Goff 42, Stafford 34
PS Wins: Stafford 5, Goff 3
Att: Goff 2216, Stafford 1942
Comp: Goff 1424, Stafford 1276
Pct: Stafford 65.7, Goff 64.3
Yards: Goff 17,082, Stafford 14,700
TDs: Goff 102, Stafford 95
TD%: Stafford 4.9, Goff 4.6
Int: Goff 48, Stafford 44
Int%: Goff 2.2, Stafford 2.3
Yds/Att: Stafford 7.57, Goff 7.39
QB Rating: Stafford 95.2, Goff 94.1
Sacks: Stafford 117, Goff 103
4QC: Stafford 7, Goff 6
GWD: Stafford 11, Goff 8

We can debate who had the better weapons in blue and gold. Stafford hasn't had a Gurley-type RB but I will not throw shade at Goff. He gave us plenty of thrills. The Seattle game when he ran for a first down, got clocked but got up and signaled "first down" (game over). The Minnesota game in 2018. The Kansas City Game the same year which may have been the most entertaining Rams game since TGSOT years. The NFC Championship Game in the Big Easy. And there were others. But nothing trumps the Superbowl and the no look passes or the "for the love of the game" route and throw vs Tampa. Hell, this year the Buffalo game was great, the win vs Minnesota in the postseason and Stafford came very close to upsetting the Eagles with last minute heroics. They've both supplied Ram fans with plenty of thrills. But only one gave us the ultimate thrill.

Bottom line is in 2021, Stafford had better intangibles than Goff and probably still does. That won't be the case in 3 or 4 years but I'll take it. Those intangibles, which have been on full display the last 4 years, is what McVay needed from the QB position. But what will we do when #9 decides to hang them up? Let's not worry about that until it happens.

[Rams1PlateSince1976]

Carl, did you wright this or another ai post?

[Rams1PlateSince1976]

sorry about the ai post above PA. Thought it came from Carl whose Ai references throw me.

[Rams1PlateSince1976]

I like Jared Goff. I have two customers on Goff Court!!!!

[Dare]

I think its hard to make apples to apples comparisons. McVay tailored the offense to fit Stafford where he never did it for Goff. He sabotaged Goff intentionally by refusing to allow him to get to the LOS until the last 15 seconds then blamed Goff for needing to play better when he struggled to read the defenses. The defenses who knew all they had to do was show Goff one thing then in the last 15 seconds shift to something else. Then Sean got indignant and said Goff had to play better.

Johnson simply tailored the Lion offense to fit Goff's skillset. It's a credit to Jared he never had a losing season despite playing in a system that didn't fit his skillset and playing with a scrub OL in front of him from 2019 when they dismantled the OL and put a bunch of scrubs in front of Goff.

McVay has admitted recently he handled Goff badly and regrets it. That he knows more about how to be a better HC now. He admitted he was wrong to shift blame to Goff for the 2018 SB loss when it was his poor playcalling at fault.

McVay has grown since then. It's why people still think he would never draft a rookie QB. But he's done something now he didn't do when Goff was here. He's brought in 3 assistant coaches who understand how to modify plays to a QB's strengths. Sean understands now that coaching up a rookie isn't his strength so he's brought in 3 assistant coaches to handle that part of the coaching duties. There is nothing wrong with delegating responsibilities. As a business owner, I knew my own limitations and hired good people who were better in those areas. That's simply good management.

Yes, IMO Sean isn't the same coach he was back then, he's better. Just like Jared has grown professionally, so has Sean. As I've been pointing out the offense the Rams now are running is different than back when Goff was QB so that skews comparisons. This offense is more QB friendly in that it can be played well by more than an elite QB. A rookie coming in with a solid foundation needing only polishing to be an NFL starter is all they need to be competitive. The so called evaluators are wrong. This offense would be perfect for a QB like Purdy who isn't elite but is still pretty damn good. A good QB who can play from a pocket and go through his progressions quickly and accurately with an accurate arm is what is needed. That's why there are more than one QB in this draft that can play this offense well if coached up properly.

That is why McVay started to change the offense in 2023. It became more of a ball control scheme. Control the clock and score when you have the opportunities. Make the clock work for you instead of against you. Again it skews any comparison between Stafford and Goff. Jared is an old school pocket passer with a strong accurate arm. Like Stafford he's not a runner, but being younger he has mobility lacking in Matt.

The bottom line is that unlike 2017-2021 the current version of the Ram offense would be perfectly fine with a QB like Jared. That is why I'm saying the Rams need an upgrade at RB. That is really the only real difference between the Lions now and the Rams now. It's why a QB with limited mobility could function fine in this offense if the RB was the running threat as it is in Detroit. It would be even better if both could be a running threat but it's not a requirement for this team to be a SB contender if the QB is limited in his mobility as long as the RB is a legit threat on the ground.

[ziggy]

Goff was young and needed a good OL and time. Also McVay did spoon feed Goff the plays and Goff just could not execute beyond the 1st or second call in the time he had at LOS. He had less experience back then and it was just too much for him to process.

MS worked because he could process the defense much faster and also execute faster. In time McVay would engineer plays, but didn't need to help decipher defenses for MS, obviously.

The OL has been good and bad during McVays tenure. It's currently on the bad side of the spectrum... but improving.

I agree a RB that can find openings and break free would help. So would a quick TE that can block and quickly break off to catch would change our offense.

I don't think the Rams will upgrade their O in the early draft tho.. I suspect it's going to be defense oriented in the early draft. But Snead always surprises me in the draft and he's been more right than wrong.

[Youngblood22]

I don't think Mcvay sabotaged Goff on purpose, that would be counter productive. And you can't get inside McVays head. I think the rams go offence this year. We need a WR AND A TE.

[PARAM]

I don't think Mcvay sabotaged Goff on purpose, that would be counter productive. And you can't get inside McVays head. I think the rams go offence this year. We need a WR AND A TE.

He didn't. That's bullshit.

As far as changing the offense when Stafford arrived, he gave Stafford more leeway to change plays and Stafford did. The only change was trusting the QB more.

[BobCarl]

... he gave Stafford more leeway to change plays and Stafford did. The only change was trusting the QB more.

Yes, McVay was micromanaging the play pre-snap. Maybe Goff needed it in his early years, maybe it hindered Goff.

Stafford was experienced enough to see all of the pre-snap stuff .... ALSO ... he was/is able to change the play while it is in progress... as long as he has a WR that sees the post-snap defensive adjustments the same way.

You can only see so much pre-snap.

Once a play is called, the HC has to stop meddling. I think a more experienced McVay understands this now.

What will happen when McVay gets his next rookie QB?