Rams quarterback Jared Goff is carrying a little more weight on his frame this year.
Goff said Tuesday that he’s now up to 220 pounds. He was listed at 215 pounds in the Rams’ media guide last year.
“Did my best in the months we had off to continue to train hard and my body continues to grow,” Goff said via quotes distributed by the team. “I understand I’m still young and there still is going to be some growing. I’ve said this for a while now, I’ve gained about 10 pounds every year of my life. I’m 22 now, you can do that math, about 220 (pounds). Then, I hope it slows down about 23-24, but yeah, I think I’ve been doing a good job just trying to continue to get strong and just continue to work as hard as I can.”
Goff said he feels like 220 pounds is his ideal playing weight. He realized during his college career how much a little extra weight could help him when it came to staying upright in the pocket with defenders bearing down on him.
“My freshman year to my sophomore year (at Cal), I put on quite a few pounds,” Goff said. “I kind of felt it in the pocket, the ability to kind of make one guy miss is a big deal. The ability to not get tackled by just a hand, by just a guy grabbing your jersey is a big deal. I think that’s where it will help the most.”
Goff was sacked 26 times in just seven starts for the Rams last season, an average of 3.7 sacks per game. Rams head coach Sean McVay believes the extra weight will help Goff be able to handle the hits when pressure inevitably gets to him.
“I think it’s always important to be able to sustain some of the hits. Anytime that you’re able to just be a little bit sturdier,” McVay said. “You still want to make sure that you’re fluid and flexible. I think that weight, when you’re thinking about some of the throws that you have to make in the face of a pass rush and where you have to absorb those hits – I think it just allows you to be a little bit sturdier.”