Friday 18 November 2016 15:19, UK
The Los Angeles Rams will start their No 1 draft pick against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, but who is Jared Goff?
A Californian born and raised, Goff seemed like the perfect fit for the Rams. He played college football for the University of California, where he set multiple records, including passing yards and touchdowns.
Goff was tipped as the first quarterback to be taken throughout his final year with the Golden Bears, but the emergence of Carson Wentz at North Dakota State made it a straight shootout for the two.
The Rams organisation were in the process of moving to Los Angeles from St. Louis, and had decided that none of their current crop of quarterbacks - Nick Foles, Case Keenum and Sean Mannion - were the face of the franchise's new chapter.
Instead they looked to draft Goff, trading six of their picks to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for the 2016 first overall pick.
Under the scrutiny of Hard Knocks, Goff joined the Rams for training camp but struggled to get to grips with the playbook and command the offence.
During his college career, Goff had played in a 'spread offence' system, where he didn't call plays or have to survey the whole field before throwing, and looked out of his depth throughout the training camp and going into pre-season.
Every rookie quarterback has to learn by playing - the speed of NFL defenders and the ability to make pinpoint throws in pressure situations is learned by practise on the field.
However after an uninspiring pre-season, where Goff compiled three fumbles and two interceptions, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher announced that Keenum would be the season starter, which he has remained until now.
It has been a disappointing start to life in Los Angeles for a Rams team that demanded to be taken seriously at the start of the season. Following a 28-0 shutout loss to the San Francisco 49ers (the 49ers only win to date) in the season opener, the Rams have limped to a 4-5 record.
Behind a poor offensive line, Rookie of the Year Todd Gurley has struggled to get anything going, and Keenum has balanced nine touchdowns with 11 interceptions. The Rams have played three games without scoring a touchdown this season, and Fisher has decided the time is right to debut Goff.
"I don't want to say it's a new era, but in a lot of ways it is," Fisher said. "Jared Goff's going to be under centre this week at home against a really good defensive team in the Miami Dolphins, so a big challenge ahead.
"We're committed to this. We didn't do what we did this offseason and trade for Jared to just spot-play him over the next five or six weeks. Even though there's people out there saying, 'Well you're doing it now because your playoff chances aren't real good'. Well, no, our play-off chances are still fine.
"We're doing this for two reasons. One, we feel like this is the best decision. Two, he has the chance to help us win football games."
Whether Goff is really ready, or Fisher's hand has been forced following a string of disappointing displays from Keenum remains to be seen. The Rams have more than enough quality to beat the Dolphins, and if Goff can help them push for a play-off wildcard spot, or even improve on the lowly 15.4 points scored which Los Angeles are averaging, his appointment will be an upgrade.
The fans have been chanting for Goff, and now they will see exactly what their franchise invested so much to get.
Watch Jared Goff's first start as part of an NFL triple header On Sunday November 20, from 5:30pm live on Sky Sports 2.
