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Los Angeles Rams Rumors: Jared Goff Could Start In Week 11 If Case Keenum Struggles Against New York Jets

By Jason Fletcher
Published on: 05:42 PST, Nov 13, 2016

According to ESPN‘s Adam Schefter, the Los Angeles Rams could finally be prepared to remove the redshirt from 2016 No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff. The famed NFL insider reports that Rams head coach Jeff Fisher could be ready to start the rookie from the University of California in Week 11 against the Miami Dolphins if current starter Case Keenum struggles on Sunday against the New York Jets.

Sunday’s game against the Jets will mark Keenum’s ninth start of the season and although he helped lead the Rams to a surprising 3-1 start, the team has lost four games in a row to drop to 3-5. Case enters the game against New York with a below-average 41.0 QBR and 77.2 quarterback rating as he’s completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,004 yards with nine touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Despite Keenum’s shortcomings, Fisher has repeatedly stuck by the fifth-year pro as he’s stated on a number of occasions that the former University of Houston star has outperformed Jared Goff in practice. That being said, a loss to the Jets on Sunday puts Los Angeles’ record at 3-6 and gives them little shot of making the playoffs. Without a path to the postseason, there’s no more excuses for Fisher to keep Goff on the bench.

With the Rams moving from St. Louis to Los Angeles this past offseason, many reports stated that owner Stan Kroenke wanted to make a splash in order to get his new fans excited for the team. This led general manager Les Snead to contact the Tennessee Titans about the availability of the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

The two sides eventually agreed upon a trade where the Titans sent the No. 1 overall pick, a fourth-round pick in 2016 and a sixth-round pick in 2016 to the Rams in exchange for Los Angeles’ 2016 first-round pick, two 2016 second-round picks, a 2016 third-round pick and the Rams’ first-round and third-round picks in the 2017 NFL Draft.

The Los Angeles Rams then used the No. 1 pick on Goff who completed 62.3 percent of his passes during three seasons at Cal and threw for 12,195 yards and 96 touchdowns. During his final season for the Golden Bears, Jared completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 4,714 yards and 43 touchdowns as he was graded as the top quarterback in the 2016 draft class by many NFL draft experts.

Despite his success in college and projected status in the NFL draft, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Keyshawn Johnson revealed in September that his sources told him that Fisher wanted no parts of trading up and drafting Jared Goff.

“From my outside people and the inside people that I know with the Rams, that wasn’t the choice that Jeff Fisher really wanted. I think he was basically forced to draft Jared Goff,” Johnson said on The Stephen A. Smith Show.

“I think he wanted more players,” Johnson said. “I think he wanted more players because he felt that he could be more competitive with more players, but they felt they needed to make a splash moving into Los Angeles and drafting a quarterback.”

Whether Fisher wanted to draft Goff or not, he has to figure out at some point if Jared has what it takes to lead the Rams into the future. It’s impossible for Jared Goff to learn or improve if he’s forced to ride the bench his entire rookie season all because Jeff Fisher was opposed to drafting him. The fact of the matter is that Jared Goff is a member of the Los Angeles Rams and Fisher must give him an opportunity whether he likes it or not.

[Featured Image by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]

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