By no means was it a banner year for Jared Goff in 2019. The two-time Pro Bowler struggled mightily behind the Rams’ makeshift offensive line and without much of a running game, throwing only 22 touchdown passes and a career-high 16 interceptions.
Part of the reason for his regression was the poor protection he got up front, but he’s also said he needs to play better moving forward. When you’re one of the top-paid players at your position, simply being average isn’t going to cut it.
Pro Football Focus actually put Goff in the bottom half of the league in terms of starting quarterbacks, ranking him 19th in the NFL following the 2019 season. That’s directly behind Baker Mayfield, Philip Rivers and Carson Wentz.
After three straight years of continued development, Goff took a step back in 2019 to rank among the middle tier of quarterbacks, which coincided with his offensive line’s regression in pass protection. He left too many throws on the table, missing a higher percentage than he did in 2018 while ranking in the bottom half at avoiding turnover-worthy plays. The scheme plays also took a hit, as Goff saw the third-largest decrease in positively graded throws, all leading to his uneven season that only really got going in spurts and featured six games with PFF grades of 60.0 or below. As he heads into Year 5, it’s fair to place Goff among the middle class of the league’s signal-callers, a group that is capable of high-end seasons with good play-calling and a strong supporting cast, but also capable of nondescript seasons like Goff had in 2019.
Goff showed in 2018 that he can be a true franchise quarterback for the Rams, but he needs to get back to that level of play and improve upon his poor 2019 showing. He’ll have the highest cap hit of any player in the NFL next season at $36 million, which has fans and analysts concerned about whether he can meet expectations in 2020.
The Rams will only go as far as Goff will take them, as evidenced by this past season. Of course, there are other circumstances that are out of his control – like a decimated offensive line, wide receivers and tight ends missing a few games and Todd Gurley having his touches limited – but Goff needs to carry his own weight as the NFL’s most expensive quarterback in 2020.