Eric Dickerson Is Right, Jared Goff Isn't Ready For The NFL

Eric Dickerson has been in the spotlight recently as the Los Angeles Rams moved from St. Louis and have tried to reconnect with their past. Dickerson is one of the greatest players in franchise history, so obviously he’s been interviewed a lot about the team’s trek west. Yahoo! talked to the 56-year-old Hall of Famer and he didn’t hold back in his assessment of Rams rookie quarterback Jared Goff.

When asked what he thought of Goff and his position as the third quarterback on the roster, Dickerson said the following:

"Everyone wants to know how he’ll perform in the preseason. I love Coach (Jeff Fisher), and I think Fish gave him an A-minus or a B-minus … I gave (Goff) a flat-out D. He just didn’t perform well in the preseason. I am just being honest. You might not like it. I don’t care if it comes from me. I just think it’s true. He didn’t look prepared. And I think he tried to prepare. It’s just fast. It moves faster. He didn’t do a lot under center in college, and here in the pros the defenses move a lot more. I just don’t think he’s ready to play. That’s not my call. It’s just my opinion. You can’t put him out there. You don’t want to damage him. My example is I played with Jeff George. Great guy, great teammate. But (the Indianapolis Colts) didn’t give him the receiver, they didn’t give him the offensive line, the coordinator, the quarterback coach. It was, ‘Just get out there and do it!’ And it’s just not fair. It wouldn’t be fair to throw Jared out there now."

Yikes.

While that’s a harsh assessment, it’s hard to disagree with Dickerson after watching Goff in the preseason. He certainly has a ton of arm talent, but he also struggled big-time against NFL competition. During his first four exhibition games the No. 1 pick from the 2016 NFL Draft completed just 22 of 49 passes (44.9 percent), for 232 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also lost two fumbles.

Yes, the Rams were terrible offensively in their season opener and immediately people were calling for Goff to play. But at this point putting him in a regular season game might actually stunt the Cal product’s growth. Dickerson is right, Goff is simply not ready, and it’s fairly obvious.