Places on NFL comeback trail different for Kaepernick, Goff
As the 49ers and Cal Bears try to find a quarterback against a backdrop of skepticism, it’s easy to recall better times. Just four seasons ago, Colin Kaepernick led the 12-4 49ers into the NFC Championship Game and Jared Goff was a sensational, recordsetting freshman in Berkeley.
How times have changed. But with the NFL’s exhibition season in progress, there is opportunity for both — in completely different ways.
For weeks, the Baltimore Ravens have seemed an obvious choice to sign Kaepernick. Joe Flacco has injury concerns, and backup QB Ryan Mallett was totally inept in Thursday’s game against Washington. Even in the preseason, it’s easy to spot someone who’s not ready for the big show — and, as former NFL safety Louis Riddick said on ESPN, playing the weak-armed Mallett “gives you no chance to win.”
It’s well understood why the Ravens and other teams are backing off Kaepernick, but you wonder whether coach John Harbaugh (said to appreciate Kaepernick’s talent) might convince his fearful owner,
Steve Bisciotti, that Kaepernick is worth the risk. For football reasons, the only ones that really matter in the NFL, it makes plenty of sense.
As for Goff, who took a fearsome pounding during seven winless starts for the Rams last year, there was great news Friday: Wide receiver Sammy Watkins had been acquired from Buffalo. Watkins has struggled to stay healthy over the past two seasons, but he’s one of the NFL’s best deep threats and a master of clean, precise routes. Team him with Robert Woods, the talented receiver who starred at USC, and Goff has some pretty choice targets.
Goff always made it clear that he loves a challenge, and there’s never been any question about his toughness. Playing behind a suspect offensive line, he was routinely clobbered during his Cal career but always was ready to jump right back into the huddle. But as last year’s Rams became a hopeless case, and coach Jeff Fisher showed little faith in Goff (who was sacked 26 times in those seven games), it wasn’t a pretty picture.
“If people think I’m soft, I don’t really care. That doesn’t bother me,” Goff told Bleacher Report this week. “I know what my teammates think. I’m more afraid that people will be like, ‘He’s a little b—’ than I am of truly getting hit. So that’s what drives me. That mentality is what keeps me in the game. I’m someone who’s going to fight until I can’t fight anymore. I’ve done it my whole life. I plan to do it with the Rams.”
Privately, Goff has to be thrilled that the Rams replaced Fisher with Sean McVay, said to have a more imaginative offensive mind. “Everyone’s going to see a completely different team this year,” said Goff, and that was before the acquisition of Watkins, who had foot surgery in January but claims to be completely healthy.
The feeling in Berkeley? “He’s going to prevail,” said Chase Forrest, who backed up Goff and now seeks the Bears’ starting job. “That’s what he does.”
A definite maybe
Everyone talks about the “media circus” that would surround Kaepernick in any NFL setting, and it would definitely be pervasive at the outset. Just wondering, though: Say he takes a more measured approach to his activism, personally reaching out to law-enforcement groups and disconnecting from the national anthem, while impressing everyone on the field. Watch that circus disappear ... Careful what you say: After a promising debut for Jacksonville against New England on Thursday night, rookie running back Leonard Fournette
(LSU) told reporters, “A lot of people were like, ‘The NFL is going to be fast,’ but it was a lot slower than I thought. To me, it was really easy.” He also said “I’ve always stayed humble,” and that would be a smarter route ... NFL preseason games are usually worth skipping, but there was Christian McCaffrey breaking off a nice run for Carolina on Wednesday night against a Houston team soon to be run by an exceptional quarterback, Deshaun Watson. Good stuff ... Once Carolina QB Cam Newton (shoulder surgery) gets healthy, coach
Ron Rivera wants him to tone down his run-with-abandon style and embrace the pocket. Newton has absorbed as many frightening hits as any quarterback in the game, and “he’s not that young guy we can throw out there and say, ‘Go do your thing,’ ” said Rivera. “He’s now that veteran, crafty guy.” On the NFL Network, Kurt
Warner noted, “Underneath throws have never really been a part of his game. But he’s never had a guy like McCaffrey, and what he can do (receiving) out of the backfield.” Newton seems resistant to Rivera’s plan, claiming that designed running plays are “my game. You’re expecting a lion not to roar?” In any case, the Panthers are deeply impressed with McCaffrey. “I can tell you now there won’t be anybody in this league that can cover him one-on-one,” said Pro Bowl running back Jonathan Stewart. “He’s a special player.”
Before Sean Doolittle closed out the Washington Nationals’ victory over Miami with a strong ninth inning Thursday night, another ex-Oakland reliever, Ryan Madson, looked even more dominant, throwing 100 mph fastballs and lowering his ERA to 1.71. “Madson is absolutely filthy,” said Nats TV analyst F.P. Santangelo. “I’ll put him up against anybody with his stuff right now” ... Advertising patches will be part of uniform attire for every NBA team this season, placed unobtrusively beneath the left shoulder and nothing compared to the absurd sellouts in soccer, where the sponsor appears in huge lettering across the front. (Is that Real Madrid or “Fly Emirates”?) As teams make their choices — StubHub for the 76ers, Goodyear Tires for the Cavaliers, etc. — the Warriors haven’t pulled the trigger yet. The leader so far in coolness: Milwaukee and Harley-Davidson.