When the Los Angeles Rams hired Matt LaFleur as their offensive coordinator back in 2017, he inherited a young quarterback in Jared Goff who was coming off a rocky rookie season. But LaFleur saw something right away — Goff's potential to grow into an elite NFL quarterback.
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Fast forward to now, and LaFleur will be on the opposing sideline as the Green Bay Packers face Goff and the Detroit Lions. This isn't the same Goff from those early days, though. In LaFleur's eyes, Goff has developed into exactly the player he always believed he could become.
"That was evident right when we got with him," LaFleur told reporters. "He had seven starts as a rookie and there wasn't a whole lot of success there from a team standpoint, and I always thought he approached the game the right way, keeping a level head and the moment was never too big for him. he was the No. 1 pick in the draft so you know there's talent there, there's arm talent. It's a credit to his work ethic and his ability to stay resilient.
"I'm not surprised by the success he has had and he is having. He's playing the position as well as anybody in the game right now. Just look at the numbers, they tell you everything, and then watch the tape and it backs it up. He's doing a great job. If you give him time he's going to make you pay, he's going to find the right guys. If you give him a sliver of light to make the pass he's going to take advantage of that. I've always been a big fan of his, just won't be a big fan of his on Sunday."
It's clear why LaFleur holds Goff in such high regard. Goff currently leads the league with a jaw-dropping 74.1 percent completion rate and is averaging 9.0 yards per attempt, both stats that put him at the top among NFL quarterbacks. For LaFleur, that's no surprise. The groundwork was always there — Goff just needed time to refine his game, and LaFleur got a front-row seat to that early progress.
