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QB Jared Goff, DET (2 Viewers)

CalBear

Footballguy
He's draft eligible this year. Todd McShay rates him as the #1 QB prospect; Mel Kiper has him as the #1 junior. Threw for 3973/35 at 7.8 YPA with just 7 INTs last year. Great arm strength, quick release, good decision-making; who's on board?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sko6f8nJ3ZM

Yesterday against an overmatched Grambling State team he led Cal to a 52-0 lead at the half and got the rest of the day off. Went 24 of 32 for 309 yards and 3 TDs to Kenny Lawler (who you'll also be hearing about). He had one INT on a good pass that went through the hands of his receiver. By my tally, he had just two poor passes on the day: a bad decision to loft a long ball up into double coverage (could have been intercepted, wasn't), and a significant overthrow of an open Lawler on a post route in the end zone. Other than that his decisions were solid, the throws were on target, and he ran the offense like a machine.

A more relevant warm-up is next week against a decent San Diego State team, followed by a trip to Austin to play Texas in prime time. This could be your last opportunity to join the bandwagon before it's too crowded.

 
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Good college QB. Probably better than some of the other names out there.

But watch him throw 100 balls. Hell, just pick a highlight reel that only accentuates his best stuff. Then watch 100 random throws from Hackenberg and Cardale Jones. Those guys have work to do, but THOSE are pro arms.

This guy's not an NFL QB. Sorry, Cal fans. The stock will plunge once the obvious problems with his motion, release, and arm strength become more newsworthy.

 
Against San Diego State, Cal got off to a slow start, allowing the Aztecs to march downfield for a TD on the first drive, and not scoring until the second quarter.

Goff threw one INT on a play where he got baited by the underneath safety; it wasn't a terrible throw, but he missed the read. It was good to see that on his next play from scrimmage, he threw a perfect bomb to Trevor Davis, 50 yards in the air. That led to a missed field goal. Then when Cal got the ball back on its own 35 with 1:03 left in the half, he threw passes on consecutive plays for 28, 24, and 13 yards for a TD.

Then on the first play of the second half he completed another perfect bomb to Davis for 75 yards and a TD, and the rout was on.

The thing that looked particularly good this week was his sliding mobility in the pocket. He had a number of plays where he slid away from pressure while keeping his eyes downfield; one of those would have been a TD to Lawler if not for a remarkable fingertip deflection by the DB. I don't think he took off running once, despite a lot of blitzing by SDSU.

Final tally, 17/24, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 35-7 Cal.

Now comes the big test, Cal at Texas on Saturday evening. Texas isn't the program it once was, and Vegas opened the line as Cal -2.5, and it promptly moved to Cal -6.5. That may be a bit premature; our offense looks great, but the defense is still suspect, especially if we're missing any of the starters. Still, the discussion about Goff for the next couple of months will depend on how he does on the road in a big-name matchup on ESPN. If he does well, he's going to start to be talked about as a possible #1 overall. If not, he won't get another chance to make a big impression until October 22 at UCLA.

And really, Cardale Jones? Please. Right now he's a poor man's Tim Tebow.

 
Please don't say Cardale is Tebow. It's just makes you look desperate to make a point.

They are nothing alike.

I like Goff a lot and appreciate the updates.

 
Texas' defence is a bit of a mess right now; all their talent seems to be in the freshman class, they can't get a pass rush from the front four and the secondary is the shakiest I've seen in the fifteen years or so I've been following them. With that said, I do hope it is a step up in defensive competition from Grambling State and SDSU...

 
Goff played well tonight, he's smart and accurate, makes good decisions and sneaky with his feet. Not sure if I saw top-10 pick, but it's tough to tell with this Texas defence. Let us never speak of the ending to this game again.

 
Goff's dad was an All-American baseball player at Cal; he grew up dreaming of being a Golden Bear.

Great game by Goff, and as predicted, with a win over a traditional powerhouse he's finally overcome the east coast media bias to get into the conversation for #1 overall. And he's earned it. Three plays that stand out:

First drive of the game, Goff converts a third-and-10 by making a smart decision to run for 12 yards, converts a third-and-7 with a 22-yard pass (deep out) to Anderson, then, on third and goal on the 6, gets pressure up the middle, spins out of a tackle, and while rolling to his left, throws across his body for a TD to Maurice Harris.

Later in the first, Cal down 10-7, on fourth and 3 (Dykes loves to go for it on fourth down) he finds Lawler on a back-shoulder throw on a sideline pattern for a 17-yard TD.

Then Cal's final drive started with a 7-point lead and 3:05 left in the game. Goff had gotten his ankle rolled up on the previous posession and was clearly limping around, uncomfortable. It was third and 7, 2:05 to go, Texas out of timeouts. Needing a first down to seal the game, Goff threw a perfect pass 15 yards downfield to Anderson, who flat-out dropped it.

Two mental things to note: Goff had a number of good audibles at the line resulting in positive plays. And he caught a Texas lineman dropping down to fake an injury to avoid an illegal substitution penalty on a goal-line play. (Someone's probably going to get fined for that). He really is taking command of the field in a way we haven't seen in previous years.

Goff set the Cal all-time record for passing yardage, and he's now in the top-QB conversation with Cook (and Jones is out).

For bonus points, Goff pooch-kicked three times to avoid punting to Daje Johnson.


Only three negatives all night; a pass behind Lawler in the end zone, missing an open receiver on a post route, and a fumble on a blindside hit. Nothing major to complain about. (Except our defense, which has the ability to make some plays, but still looks extremely confused at times).



 
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I'm a little worried about how he will hold up in the NFL. He was limping around quite a bit last night, and fell a couple times very awkwardly.

 
First full game of his I watched was yesterday.

What impressed me most was;

1 His pocket awareness. He moves around really well and seems to have a feel for it. Step up into the pocket nicely and knows when to bail.

2. He arm strength. It was better than advertised IMO. Made a throw on a deep corner route that shows me everything I need to see to know he can make all the NFL throws.

 
CalBear said:
Two mental things to note: Goff had a number of good audibles at the line resulting in positive plays. And he caught a Texas lineman dropping down to fake an injury to avoid an illegal substitution penalty on a goal-line play. (Someone's probably going to get fined for that). He really is taking command of the field in a way we haven't seen in previous years.
Not that anyone gives a ####, but the injury was legit. The player (Edwin Freeman) didn't return after that play, leaving a thin LB corps even thinner. He was hobbling around and the coaching staff gestured for him to get on the ground rather than continue to try to tough it out.

 
BusterTBronco said:
Meh. Goff was outplayed by the Texas freshman QB and led his team to no points in the 4th quarter as Texas was mounting a comeback. He's got zero wins over ranked teams in his career and I don't think that will change.
Wow.

 
BusterTBronco said:
Meh. Goff was outplayed by the Texas freshman QB and led his team to no points in the 4th quarter as Texas was mounting a comeback. He's got zero wins over ranked teams in his career and I don't think that will change.
I'm most interested in his performance in big spots this year. Right now, he's my favorite in this class.
 
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/09/22/jared-goffs-arm-makes-cal-a-contender/

Where Goff excels—this was true of last season, too—is throwing downfield. Through the first three weeks of the season, he has thrown just three incompletions from the 17 passes travelling 20 yards or more through the air, with his 14 completions going for 447 yards and two touchdowns. That gives him a nation-leading accuracy percentage of 82.4 percent going deep—not bad when you consider just three quarterbacks are above the 60 percent mark.

 
http://www.sfchronicle.com/collegesports/article/Cal-records-fall-as-quarterback-Jared-Goff-s-6525771.php?cmpid=gsa-sfgate-result

Behind a paywall, but best bits:

The Novato native says he is seeing plays unfold slower, which has helped him raise his completion percentage from 62.1 in 2014 to 73.1 this season. He has upped his yards per attempt from 7.8 to 9.7. And, considering Goff throws the ball 31 times per game, that is no simple feat.
“While he doesn’t have an ideal frame, the accuracy on the high-degree-of-difficulty throws that he makes is very impressive,” said Rob Rang, an NFL draft analyst for CBSSports.com. “His poise when he does get pressured is also very impressive.”
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had him as the third-rated prospect on his “Big Board” on Wednesday, behind Mississippi defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche and Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa.

Meanwhile, three other players in the first-quarterback-taken conversation — Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg, Ohio State’s Cardale Jones and Michigan State’s Connor Cook — haven’t rivaled Goff’s early production.
And my favorite bit:

The NFL chatter has begun to wear on Goff. In a teleconference with reporters Wednesday, he admitted that he had probably been asked about the draft eight times within the past hour. His answer — “I’m not concerned with it” — still did not waver.


“I hear it a lot, and I don’t really listen to it,” Goff said. “It kind of goes in one ear and out the other.”
 
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Another solid game out of Goff, on the road against a name team, has brought the Bears to 4-0 and their first ranking since 2009. Washington's defense is still very strong and they put pressure on Goff all game long, racking up 5 sacks and 10 TFL. But Goff hung in and made the throws he needed to make, including this beauty: blind and perfectly placed.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13747122&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=feed

His completion percentage was slightly depressed (24/40 for 342 and 2 TDs) because of at least five bad drops by receivers, including two by Lawler who never drops. I only saw two bad throws all game, behind crossing receivers. His INT was in a Hail Mary situation, third down at midfield with 18 seconds left in the half.

And he sealed the win with his legs; on fourth and 3 with a minute to go, we called a pooch punt option play. Goff rolled left deciding whether to punt or not, saw an opening, went for hit, got hit by two guys, bounced off and leaned forward for the first down.

Now that Cal's ranked he'll get more regular coverage on national media. Most draft pundits have moved him into their top 5, some to #1 overall, but buzz is still pretty quiet for a QB ranked that highly.

Cal comes back to Berkeley for what should be an easy game against WSU, then goes into the brutal part of the schedule: @Utah, @UCLA, USC, @Oregon. No matter how well Goff plays we'd be thrilled to get two wins out of that stretch.

 
Rotoworld:

Jared Goff - QB - Golden Bears

ESPN's Todd McShay would "like to see [Cal junior QB Jared Goff] make fewer costly mistakes."

Even so, Goff hopped from No. 10 to 7 in McShay's newest rankings. "Goff has significantly improved both his overall accuracy (69.2 percent in 2015 vs. 62.1 percent last season) and yards-per-attempt figures (9.3 vs. 7.8)," McShay wrote. "That bodes well for his development as a passer. ... Goff has shown the ability to make NFL-caliber throws into tight windows, which helps him stand out from the crowd in this QB class." The 6-foot-4, 205-pound junior recently went No. 2 in Dane Brugler's weekly mock draft exercise.

Source: ESPN Insider

Sep 30 - 8:09 PM
 
Goff started a little shaky today, sailing two swing passes to RBs, and throwing an INT very similar to the one he threw against Washington, thinking he had the receiver open on the deep out and missing the read on the underneath safety. Cal failed on a couple of fourth-down attempts (on the ground) which WSU turned into a couple of scores.

Goff's TD throw to Treggs was another beautiful deep ball, almost 50 yards in the air while getting plastered from the side, hitting Treggs in stride in the end zone. Go check out the highlight, it's really beautiful. But overall, Cal's fourth down misses had WSU up 21-7 at one point.

Goff continued his incredible run of performances at the end of the first half, going 5-5 for 68 yards and a perfectly-placed TD throw to Lawler going into the half. On that throw Lawler was lined up in single coverage at the beginning of the play, then WSU shifted a safety over towards him, but not close enough to make a play on the quick timing pass, which Lawler caught with one hand. Cal missed the extra point, so went into the locker room down 21-13.

The third quarter was strange; WSU got stopped, then tried a fake punt which resulted in a fumble returned for a TD by Cal. That was followed by a long WSU drive for a TD, and on the ensuing Cal series, after a good completion on third and 3, Lawler fumbled and WSU recovered, going down to miss a FG. With 4:14 left in the third quarter, Cal had only run 3 offensive plays. But then the Bears took control; Goff went 4-4 for 53 yards and a TD to Lawler, then surprised WSU by recovering an onsides kick. Goff went 3-3 on the next drive for 47 yards and a TD, all on short routes with runs after the catch, and Cal's had its first lead, and what turned out to be the final score.

The fourth quarter was mostly about the Cal defense, which forced two fumbles and an INT. Goff had one terrible play where he got sacked, fumbled, and got lucky it didn't get returned for a TD by WSU. As it was Cal recovered for a loss of over 20 yards, and got bailed out when Enwere had a 42-yard run on third and 36 from the 4 yard line.

But Goff had one great play left in him. With 2:01 on the clock and WSU having two timeouts, it was third and 10 on the Cal 22. Goff went back to pass, ducked the rush, floated sideways, and found Davis for a 12-yard completion and a first down. By the time WSU burned through its timeouts and received the punt (after three straight runs), they had just 12 seconds left, during which they failed to execute The Play.

Final stats, 33/45, 390 yards, 4 TD 1 INT.

I'd like to think the INT being the same as the one at Washington was just a coincidence, but it's worth paying attention to whether Goff consistently misreads the underneath safety. He also needs to take better care of the ball when he gets sacked. But overall, another great performance, and Cal is 5-0, 2-0.

Now the hard part starts. Two nationally-televised road games against ranked teams (Utah and UCLA, both night games on ESPN), followed by USC in Berkeley, and then Oregon on the road. If Cal beats Utah or UCLA, the hype machine will go off the charts for Goff. If we lose both of those games (which is the percentage play; we're unlikely to be favored in either one), things may calm down again anticipating USC coming to town.

 
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Gotta say, I really like what I've seen from him so far. If he can keep this up, he'll definitely be viewed as a potential franchise QB.

 
I extracted Goff's stats from Cal's last possession at the end of the first half this year. (We haven't really had any 2-minute drills at the end of a game this year):

Grambling State: 8/8, 70 yards (Enwere rushing TD)

San Diego State: 3/3, 65 yards (Harris TD)

Texas*: 1/1, 22 yards (Enwere rushing TD)

Texas*: 2/3, 13 yards (FG) (Drive started with 24 seconds on the clock and no TOs after Texas turnover)

Washington*: 4/4, 52 yards (Treggs TD)

Washington*: 0/1, INT (Hail Mary situation)

WSU: 5/5, 68 yards (Lawler TD)

So, in five games he had just two incompletions in 2-minute drill situations, and that's if you count the bomb at the end of the half at Washington. That puts this split at 23/25, 285 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT.

 
Rotoworld:

Per ESPN's Todd McShay, Cal junior QB Jared Goff has been "by far the most impressive QB prospect so far this season."

McShay ranks Goff as the No. 7 player on his board. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Goff is averaging 326 passing yards per game with 70 percent completions and a 15/4 TD/INT rate through five games. This week provides a tantalizing test, as he'll be matchup up against a strong Utah defense whose 4.9 INT rate ranks No. 18 in the country. "But can the Utes pressure Goff enough to throw off his rhythm? They have just eight sacks on the year (75th in the FBS)," McShay wrote. "Goff has a tendency to put the ball on the ground when pressured (two fumbles already this year), so if Utah can get any heat on the QB, a game-changing turnover could follow."

Source: ESPN Insider

Oct 7 - 9:12 PM
 
Keep those updates coming CalBear. :thumbup: Probably should stay for his Sr. year as the track record of Jr QB's NFL success is abysmal.

 
5 picks and most of the 4th to go still. First game of his I have really watched as a Bears fan and not really excited about him.

 
Obviously, not a great game for Goff, although he had some moments. Here's my take on his INTs:

#1: Fine pass to Lawler, through his hands, picked on the deflection. Not Goff's fault.

#2: Had Lawler on a slant pattern in one on one coverage. The DB drove on the ball. Looked like Lawler gave up on the route. Not a bad pick.

#3: Inexcusable throw into double coverage.

#4: Screen pass, RB tripped over his own lineman, DL tipped the ball, great play by linebacker to (sort of) make the INT. (Probably should have been overturned).

#5: Panicked when he was getting pressure when he wasn't expecting it, made inexcusable throw.

So, not good, but not as bad as it might seem.

Outside of the picks, though, Goff didn't look sharp. He did drive the Bears down for a TD before the half (again), but in the game-ending two-minute drill, didn't have the sharpness we've come to expect from him. He moved the team about 50 yards, but didn't seem to be slicing up the defense as he has at the end of the first half this season.

On the plus side, his TD throw to Davis was a thing of beauty (basically a fade route, one step drop, except it was thrown from the 40 yard line), and in the first half he had another beautiful throw to Lawler who had just come clear of two defenders in the end zone. Lawler, who had a terrible game, dropped the ball.

So, the hype train hasn't quite left the station. But this was a road game against a top-5 team with a great defense, and Goff still had the Bears offense driving for a potential winning score at the end of the game. He'll bounce back. If we're lucky, it'll be next week @UCLA; another tough matchup.

 
5 picks and most of the 4th to go still. First game of his I have really watched as a Bears fan and not really excited about him.
Perhaps you should watch more than 1 game before making a decision? 3 of his picks were bad, 2, 3 & 5. The other 2 really weren't his fault. Still, there was plenty on display on this game to show why many view him as a franchise type QB prospect. It was just an off night in a tough environment. Plus, he's WR dropped a lot of passes that could have made this a different game.

 
Rotoworld:

CBS Sports' Dane Brugler notes that Cal junior QB Jared Goff "might not have elite physical tools, but he's off-the-charts above the neck," and has him falling to the Chicago Bears at No. 5 in the 2016 draft.
"The Bears are currently locked into a long-term deal with Jay Cutler, but if they're able to find a way out of that contract, an upgrade at quarterback should be priority No. 1 in the draft," Brugler wrote. The Cal prospect had a rough outing against the Utes' defense on Saturday, throwing a career-high five interceptions in Cal's 30-24 loss to Utah. Expect the talented Goff to rebound nicely from this game.

Source: CBS Sports
Oct 12 - 4:05 PM
 
I've been really impressed by what I've seen of him (I linked to clips of some of his better plays against Utah in another thread, along with some of his worst plays). He's looking like the favorite for the #1 pick.

 
I've been really impressed by what I've seen of him (I linked to clips of some of his better plays against Utah in another thread, along with some of his worst plays). He's looking like the favorite for the #1 pick.
Without a doubt. No idea why someone would think he would fall to the 5th pick. Houston would love a franchise QB.....so would Detroit.

 
Matt Ryan like with more mobility. Yes he's definitely NFL caliber.
Damn, I'm good.

Jared Goff, QB, CalBody type: Cal lists Goff at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds (almost exactly the same size as Matt Ryan, the quarterback five NFL personnel evaluators compared Goff to earlier this month), but he has a slender build and lacks thickness in his legs. There could be concerns about his ability to stand up to NFL hits.

 
Goff didn't have a great game against UCLA, but given the pressure he was under all night, he fared pretty well. He was sacked 5 times and hit a whole bunch more, and his relatively low YPA and completion percentage (60.3%, 5.6 YPA) were partly due to him throwing the ball away to avoid sacks a number of times. UCLA also made good plays on a number of balls that could have been big plays, notably on what would have been a 50-yarder to Treggs on a beautiful throw.

Goff ran more than he usually does, rushing for a first down on third and long twice, and also running it in on a late 2-point attempt. He also got creamed trying to run it in from the 7-yard line; his instincts about when to get down aren't the greatest.

I saw one obviously bad throw, on a slant pattern that the cornerback had jumped, that was almost intercepted (and then almost bounced into the hands of another Cal receiver). The announcers said Goff had an overthrow on a fade pattern in the end zone to Maurice Harris, but I think they're wrong; it was a timing pattern that Goff threw to a spot, and Harris was late coming out of his break. We scored on that drive anyway, on a throw to Powe while running to his left. Powe was streaking across the back of the end zone and the throw was maybe a little late, but well-thrown into a tight window to give Powe the chance to make a back-shoulder catch.

He also had one bad read, on a long pass to Lawler in the end zone. Lawler was in a one-on-one jump ball situation, which is usually not a bad read, but another receiver was wide open on the end zone post route and Goff didn't see him. The pass to Lawler was broken up (though almost completed).

His best throw of the night was in almost-garbage time, on 4th and goal from the 9. While sliding to his left in a collapsing pocket, he threw a sweet pass to Muhammad out of the backfield on the seam route.

The loss is on the defense (UCLA scored on its first seven possessions), but it wasn't exactly the bounce-back game Goff and Cal were hoping for. (Also on Dykes getting goofy; fake punt on fourth and 10 at your own 25?)

Now comes the moment of truth. Utah and UCLA were two tough road games against ranked teams (UCLA wasn't ranked this week but they'll probably be back). Now facing USC at home, and then a beatable Oregon team on the road, Goff has a chance to keep Cal in the running for the Pac-12 North title and to solidify his position as the top QB. Or, it could wind up looking like last year, where a promising start against weaker competition unravels. I think that's unlikely; we should win at least two of our next three. So this could be your last chance to get on the Goff train before it leaves the station.

 

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