The Rams are reportedly reversing course and starting No. 1 draft pick Jared Goff next week
According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, the Los Angeles Rams are making a switch at quarterback, benching Case Keenum, who has started the first nine games of the season, for Goff.
The move comes as a slight surprise, as head coach Jeff Fisher had insisted in recent weeks that Keenum was going to remain the starting quarterback.
However, after a 9-6 win over the New York Jets in Week 10, in which the Rams didn't score a touchdown for the third time this season, the calls for Goff grew louder. Fisher has said that Goff will play when he's "ready," and Mortensen reports that Goff has been taking more snaps with the first-team offense in practices.
The move also suggests a shift in thinking within the Rams, perhaps initiated by the owners, as CBS's Jason La Canfora suggests. Last week, Fisher had explained to MMQB's Emily Kaplan that the Rams wanted to be cautious with Goff and let him develop slowly as he learned to run NFL offenses and read NFL defenses. Interestingly, journeyman quarterback Brandon Weeden told Kaplan that he thinks it's smart to not throw rookie quarterbacks into NFL games too quickly, because many of them come from college offenses that are dissimilar to the NFL.
Whether Goff is truly ready or the Rams have grown impatient with Keenum, we'll get a first look at the top pick in the draft. Considering the price the Rams paid for Goff, expectations may be high.