Fantasy Football: Start or Sit Jared Goff in Week Nine?

Jared Goff Los Angeles Rams

When the Rams took Jared Goff with the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, they obviously had high hopes for the kid. Fantasy football owners didn’t expect much out of him last year, given the stink of Jeff Fisher emitting outward from his mustache. A “Hard Knocks” episode where Jared Goff didn’t know which way the sun rose or set certainly didn’t add to this perception. Goff started seven games last year, ending with five touchdowns and seven interceptions on 205 pass attempts. He lost all seven games he started. What about now?

He’s now through seven games in 2017, and the differences are night-and-day. First, the Rams are 5-2 and tied with the Seahawks for the NFC West lead, so there’s that. Who knew that getting rid of Jeff Fisher five years too late (yes I know he only coached there for five years, he also never finished higher than third in the division) would clean up the team? Sean McVay opened up Goff, as well. He has nine touchdowns instead of five, and just four interceptions instead of seven. He’s flip-flopped his big statistics, but he’s also increased his completion percentage, thrown for nearly 700 more yards, and he’s taken sixteen fewer sacks in the same amount of time. Granted, that last one, and maybe all the others, can be put at the feet of a much-improved offensive line. The only issue is that he hasn’t put up a solid fantasy game outside of his three-touchdown performance week three at San Francisco.

This week he gets an even juicier matchup than those Niners with the 2017 Lost Season New York Giants. They have been especially terrible lately, with three of the last four quarterbacks throwing for at least 250 yards and three scores against them (the fourth was Trevor Friggin’ Siemian). They also only have interceptions in two games on the year. Oh, and their insane disciplinary procedures that had them without Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie last week will have them without Janoris Jenkins for the foreseeable future. I honestly don’t know what McAdoo is trying to prove by benching starting cornerbacks, other than that he wants someone else to coach the New York Giants. He’s clearly lost the locker room and is going to lose a lot more games this year, and maybe his job.

Jared Goff’s greatly improved his play this year compared to last year in an equal sample size. Who knew getting rid of 7-9 incarnate Jeff Fisher would make the team a billion times better? Who knew? Well, apparently the Rams did just in time to not irreparably ruin Jared Goff. He may not know which way the sun rises, but he’ll shine down on your fantasy football fortune this week if you roll him out there.

About Jeff Krisko

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