According to Jeff Fisher, the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, Jared Goff will not be the team's starting quarterback, at least for the opening games of the 2016 NFL season. He noted that the No. 1 overall pick will still have to work for that position by competing.
Currently, the team's starter is Case Keenum. But, this could change within the next few weeks once the Rams kick off their training camp. This will serve as the main avenue for Goff, and fellow quarterback Sean Mannion, to get a shot at becoming Los Angeles' starter.
Case is our starter right now," Fisher said according to CBS Sports. "Case needs the first-team reps. To give Jared the opportunity - and Sean for that matter - to run with the first-team, it's easier to evaluate them."
"We'll change things up," he added. "Once we get in there and we'll make some decisions as to who plays when and how much in the preseason."
As explained by Fisher, Goff will have five weeks starting next month to convince the team that's he's ready to replace Case as the starting quarterback. However, this does not guarantee if he will get the position permanently as he will still be evaluated by the coaching staff.
For now, however, it's not yet clear exactly when Goff will step onto the field along with the other starting players.
"We'll start him when he's ready," Fisher said. "I didn't say that to imply that he was going to start opener. I said, we have options. He can start anywhere from the opener to whenever, and we haven't changed our philosophy on that."
"We're going to coach him to be successful and we're not going to put him in with a chance to fail - that's the most important thing in developing a young quarterback," he added.
As for Goff, the Los Angeles Times reported that the young athlete is very thankful for what the Rams did in order to acquire him in the first round. And, even though he's aware that he's a high-profile pick, he knows that he has to work hard for the starter position and to gain the respect of Los Angeles.