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B/R’s Miller: “Goff Will Have Better Year Than Wentz”
https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2017/...than-carson-wentz-bleacher-report-matt-miller by 3k Jun 26, 2017, 1:59pm PDT
Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller is making a pretty bold prediction for the 2017 season.
Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller has been making some news as of late.
A week ago, it was the suggestion that former Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher could be an appropriate candidate for the Chicago Bears’ gig if John Fox is fired by season’s end.
Today, it’s Miller’s opinion on the franchise QB that Fisher and Les Snead traded up for the #1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft to be able to select:
Jared Goff will have a better year than Carson Wentz.
Define "better year" however you want as long as we're not talking about wins and losses (team stat), Goff will take the next step this season with an improved offensive line and a competent coaching staff around him. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Cooper Kupp lead the team's receivers in catches.
I like Wentz a lot, but his slow release and trigger need to be improved before I'm ready to call out his sophomore season as an improved year. If that can be fixed, Wentz has a chance to become a top-10 quarterback this season. I'm betting on seeing more of the same from Wentz with Goff playing like the former No. 1 overall pick that he is.
A couple of things.
I think we’re all in agreement that it’s pretty much impossible for the Rams’ offense to get worse. That would almost certainly include Goff who threw for 155 yards per game at a 0.71:1 TD-INT ratio. The problem is that by comparison, Wentz threw for 236 yards per game with a 1:0.875 TD-INT ratio. That’s a pretty significant separation. Even if Wentz puts up mirrored numbers, that’s asking a TON of Goff to improve upon without the benefit of a star first-round prospect coming into the roster.
#yikes
But if we’re alluding to the coaching staff and surrounding talent as being part of the reason why, that would certainly invalidate Miller’s call to ignore wins as a “team stat.” I’m not disagreeing with him there, but nearly all traditional statistics measure a group output more than an individual one.
That being said, his suggestion of an “improved offensive line” is one of the biggest assumptions about the 2017 Rams that I’m eager to see play out early on in the season. I’ve said before that the biggest addition to the line compared to 2016 is the subtraction of Greg Robinson whom the Rams traded two weeks ago. While I’m hopeful LT Andrew Whitworth can come anywhere close to matching his play in Cincinnati in years of late, I think it’s worth remembering that he’s 35-years old. I’m nowhere near sold on the rest of the offensive line as a unit, so if we’re pinning all of our hopes and all of the sincerity of the idea that the Rams will boast an “improved offensive line” in a 35-year old left tackle? That’s risky as hell.
As for rookie WR Cooper Kupp leading the team in receptions? I think there’s some credibility to that idea, though I’d note the concern with a third-round rookie leading your team in receptions especially after signing WR Robert Woods to a pretty big deal while WR Tavon Austin is enjoying a much bigger contract in the meanwhile. Only five players caught more than 16 receptions last year. WR Kenny Britt led the team with 68 receptions. He’s now on the Cleveland Browns. Austin was second with 58 receptions out of 106 targets, a target rate I don’t know he gets half of in 2017. TE Lance Kendricks has taken his 50 receptions in 2016 to the Green Bay Packers. RB Todd Gurley had 43 catches out of the backfield. WR Brian Quick joined the Washington Football Statistic Creators on a one-year deal after 41 catches. So for Kupp to lead the Rams in catches, it might not require all that much in the first place, especially if Goff spreads the ball around with a huge number of potential wide receivers and tight ends on the forthcoming 2017 53-man roster.
Overall, it’s asking a ton for Goff to catch up to Carson Wentz in the course of a single offseason when he’s starting so far behind. Were it to happen, both Goff and certainly new Head Coach Sean McVay would be in for MAJOR commendation. But in the offseason where everything’s positive and every signing is perfect and every player is getting better? Yeah, this is where something like this fits.
https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2017/...than-carson-wentz-bleacher-report-matt-miller by 3k Jun 26, 2017, 1:59pm PDT
Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller is making a pretty bold prediction for the 2017 season.
Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller has been making some news as of late.
A week ago, it was the suggestion that former Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher could be an appropriate candidate for the Chicago Bears’ gig if John Fox is fired by season’s end.
Today, it’s Miller’s opinion on the franchise QB that Fisher and Les Snead traded up for the #1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft to be able to select:
Jared Goff will have a better year than Carson Wentz.
Define "better year" however you want as long as we're not talking about wins and losses (team stat), Goff will take the next step this season with an improved offensive line and a competent coaching staff around him. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Cooper Kupp lead the team's receivers in catches.
I like Wentz a lot, but his slow release and trigger need to be improved before I'm ready to call out his sophomore season as an improved year. If that can be fixed, Wentz has a chance to become a top-10 quarterback this season. I'm betting on seeing more of the same from Wentz with Goff playing like the former No. 1 overall pick that he is.
A couple of things.
I think we’re all in agreement that it’s pretty much impossible for the Rams’ offense to get worse. That would almost certainly include Goff who threw for 155 yards per game at a 0.71:1 TD-INT ratio. The problem is that by comparison, Wentz threw for 236 yards per game with a 1:0.875 TD-INT ratio. That’s a pretty significant separation. Even if Wentz puts up mirrored numbers, that’s asking a TON of Goff to improve upon without the benefit of a star first-round prospect coming into the roster.
#yikes
But if we’re alluding to the coaching staff and surrounding talent as being part of the reason why, that would certainly invalidate Miller’s call to ignore wins as a “team stat.” I’m not disagreeing with him there, but nearly all traditional statistics measure a group output more than an individual one.
That being said, his suggestion of an “improved offensive line” is one of the biggest assumptions about the 2017 Rams that I’m eager to see play out early on in the season. I’ve said before that the biggest addition to the line compared to 2016 is the subtraction of Greg Robinson whom the Rams traded two weeks ago. While I’m hopeful LT Andrew Whitworth can come anywhere close to matching his play in Cincinnati in years of late, I think it’s worth remembering that he’s 35-years old. I’m nowhere near sold on the rest of the offensive line as a unit, so if we’re pinning all of our hopes and all of the sincerity of the idea that the Rams will boast an “improved offensive line” in a 35-year old left tackle? That’s risky as hell.
As for rookie WR Cooper Kupp leading the team in receptions? I think there’s some credibility to that idea, though I’d note the concern with a third-round rookie leading your team in receptions especially after signing WR Robert Woods to a pretty big deal while WR Tavon Austin is enjoying a much bigger contract in the meanwhile. Only five players caught more than 16 receptions last year. WR Kenny Britt led the team with 68 receptions. He’s now on the Cleveland Browns. Austin was second with 58 receptions out of 106 targets, a target rate I don’t know he gets half of in 2017. TE Lance Kendricks has taken his 50 receptions in 2016 to the Green Bay Packers. RB Todd Gurley had 43 catches out of the backfield. WR Brian Quick joined the Washington Football Statistic Creators on a one-year deal after 41 catches. So for Kupp to lead the Rams in catches, it might not require all that much in the first place, especially if Goff spreads the ball around with a huge number of potential wide receivers and tight ends on the forthcoming 2017 53-man roster.
Overall, it’s asking a ton for Goff to catch up to Carson Wentz in the course of a single offseason when he’s starting so far behind. Were it to happen, both Goff and certainly new Head Coach Sean McVay would be in for MAJOR commendation. But in the offseason where everything’s positive and every signing is perfect and every player is getting better? Yeah, this is where something like this fits.
alm:
