Jared Goff, the #1 pick of the 2016 NFL draft, is the Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback of the future, no matter how hard he is to watch right now. He just needs to adjust from playing college football to the NFL. He may not look like the #1 pick of the draft or even the #1 QB pick of the draft. The Dallas Cowboys’ Daik Prescott and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Carson Wentz have impressed more thus far. That being said, he could definitely be the Rams’ franchise savior and pave the way towards future winning seasons in the Rams’ first season in Los Angeles.

Goff struggled in his first professional preseason and completed 22 of 49 of his passes for 232 yards with two touchdowns, two interceptions and three fumbles. Those are pretty awful stats. When he played at the University of California Berkeley he ran a no-huddle offense and took mostly shotgun snaps. In other words, he had to make a huge adjustment to the slower-paced NFL when he began playing in August.

Because of these Goff’s struggles, QB Case Keenum, a six-year veteran out of Houston University, started the first 10 weeks of the regular season leading the Rams to a 4-5 record through that span. Keenum was very up and down. He definitely had his moments, but he began to struggle leading the Rams’ offense to only 29 points in his last three starts and throwing for only 2 touchdowns as well as 5 interceptions. His inconsistencies as well as the fact that it felt like he had reached his ceiling are why he was benched.

It is understandable, after all these offensive inefficiencies that the Rams look at Goff, their #1 pick, since he has way more room for improvement. However, it was obvious that Goff would probably not perform too well in his first few starts.

Goff’s first start, on Nov. 20 went just as many predicted with him completing 17 of 31 passes for 134 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions in a 14-10 loss at home to the Miami Dolphins. That’s less than eight yards per completion. He wasn’t able to throw deep, but received a large amount of help from the defense before surrendering all 14 points in the last minute of the game. Goff played too safe.

On the other hand, in his next start on Nov. 27, Goff began to throw downfield more and threw his first touchdown early in the first quarter. On the road, they would lose the game 49-21 to the Saints and were held to 0 second-half points. However, Goff had an insane first half completing 12 of 20 of his passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns. He kept his team in the game and after what we had previously seen from him in the preseason and in his first start, his play was a major sigh of relief and, although he didn’t continue playing like a star in the second half, it was definitely a welcoming sight.

The first half of the game against the Saints also shows how much more upside Goff has than Keenum, Nick Foles, Sam Bradford, or any of the Rams’ quarterbacks of the past five years.

Goff is the Rams’ quarterback of the future, and Rams fans must be patient and watch him develop and hopefully help bring RB Todd Gurley out of his slump.