With so many young quarterbacks flourishing — specifically No. 2 overall pick Carson Wentz — the Rams continue to justify sitting No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff.
The Rams first-round pick has moved up to being the backup, after starting the season as the inactive third quarterback behind Case Keenum and Sean Mannion, but Rams coach Jeff Fisher said he’s unmoved by peer pressure as other rookies have success.
“No,” he replied when asked if the gains of others changed their plan, via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. “I spoke on that. I’m happy for young quarterbacks when they have success, but we have our own sense of timing here with him.
“The quarterbacks are having success because of injuries. As I mentioned last week, had we not had the injuries that we did in the league, probably all four of those quarterbacks either would be inactive or backups.”
While that’s certainly true of Dak Prescott (Tony Romo), Jacoby Brissett (Jimmy Garoppolo) and Cody Kessler (Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown), the injury that got Wentz into the lineup happened in Minnesota, as the Eagles were able to trade Sam Bradford for a haul when the Vikings lost Teddy Bridgewater.
But that doesn’t take away from the salient point, which is a few of those guys are playing really well, specifically Wentz and Prescott.
The Rams finally scored a touchdown last week, which will only serve to embolden the Rams to stick with Case Keenum for the short term. But the longer you see other teams not fail miserably just because they’re playing a rookie, the Rams may eventually come to realize they’ve overthought this one.