Rams’ preseason call on Goff ‘might not be for everybody’ Will coach Sean McVay’s strategy of sitting out quarterback pay off?
The Pro Bowl quarterback did not take a snap.
The reigning NFL offensive player of the year never got a handoff.
A first-unit lineman didn’t make a block, and no top receiver caught a pass.
The Rams will open the regular season Monday night against the Raiders in Oakland, after having lined up for four preseason games in the last month. But no member of the team’s starting offense played a down.
Not because of medical reasons, not because of contract squabbles. All because Sean McVay, the youngest coach in the league and its reigning coach of the year, decided the risks of injury were greater than the rewards of repetition.
“Just like anything else,” McVay, 32, said of his strategy, “it might not be for everybody.”
At the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, more bets are on the Rams to win the Super Bowl than any other team. Last season, they made their first playoff appearance in more than a decade, and their already star-studded roster has strengthened by high-profile trades, free-agent signings and multimillion-dollar contract extensions. All moves made to aid in the development — and capitalize on the bang-for-buck prime — of 23-year-old quarterback Jared Goff.
Nearly every decision the Rams have made since making Goff the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft has been designed to surround him with the championship-caliber talent required to win over a Los Angeles sports marketplace dominated by the NBA’s Lakers and MLB’s Dodgers.
The window of opportunity is now, because the Rams, a $3-billion franchise, will pay Goff a relatively
The Rams did not allow their quarterback or any offensive starter to play in preseason.