Geoff Lambert breaks down why Jared Goff should be on your radar in redraft leagues in 2017.
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The Rams No. 1 overall pick from a season ago did not have the type of rookie season he, or anyone, had envisioned when his name was called on draft night. He didn’t get his first start until Week 10 of the season, he threw only five TDs with seven interceptions, and he was sacked 26 times in seven games.
His fantasy numbers were even worse. He averaged 11.7 fantasy points per game (four points per TD) ranking him as the 41st QB in fantasy last year. Quarterbacks Brock Osweiler, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and even fellow Rams QB Case Keenum all averaged more fantasy points per game. It doesn’t get much worse than that, but on the bright side, there is only one way to go and that’s up.
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The Rams made a number of offseason moves that will go a long way to making Goff a viable fantasy starter or at the very least a “play the matchup” QB that could be a nice bye-week fill-in.
The first thing they did was add veteran leadership to their offensive line by signing free agent Pro Bowl LT Andrew Whitworth. The Rams offensive line was ranked 27th by Pro Football Focus, and for the seven games that Goff started they gave up nearly four sacks per game. Whitworth in an immediate upgrade and should go a long way to shoring up some of their issues up front. They also added veteran WR Robert Woods in free agency. Woods may not jump off the page as a huge weapon but will be a reliable receiver for Goff in 2017.
In the draft, they upgraded their offensive weapons by using three of their first four picks on pass catchers. They took TE Gerald Everett in the second round. Yes, many experts thought that was too early to draft Everett, but the fact remains that he is an upgrade over what they had last year. Everett has upside as a pass catcher in this offense and standing at 6-foot-3 will be a big target in the middle of the field for Goff.
In rounds three and four they took two WRs; Cooper Kupp of Eastern Washington and Josh Reynolds of Texas A&M. It is still unclear what the WR corps will look like to start 2017, with Woods, Tavon Austin and last year’s rookies Pharoh Cooper and Mike Thomas already on the roster, but it will breed some good competition in camp and nothing bad comes from competition.
Finally, in what may have been their biggest and most impactful move, St. Louis fired incumbent HC Jeff Fisher and replaced him with Sean McVay. McVay coached one of the best offenses in the NFL last year as the offensive coordinator of the Redskins, and he will look to bring some of that magic to an offense that was downright putrid in 2016.
When you combine all the offseason moves with an expected bounce-back season from Todd Gurley, Jared Goff may have just enough firepower on this team to become fantasy relevant and show everyone why he was the No. 1 overall pick in 2016.
My prediction for him is 4,000 yards 26 TDs and 16 INTs which would have put him in “Jameis Winston” territory had he put up those numbers in 2016. Winston was a top 15 QB last year and is about what I’m expecting from Goff in 2017.
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