When was Jared Goff drafted?

Jared Goff was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams with the 1st overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft.

As of November 2024, Goff is in his ninth year in the league. Being a native of California, Goff decided to attend the University of California, Berkeley, despite having scholarship offers from other Universities such as Boise State, Fresno State, and Washington State. He had a very successful college career starting as a true freshman and becoming the only such player in the school's history. Putting up impressive performances game in and game out, Goff broke countless school records in his three-year stint. With over 12,000 passing yards, 96 passing touchdowns and 30 interceptions during his tenure at Berkeley, Goff put himself in a commanding position to be drafted at the top of his class.

Jared Goff draft

The Los Angeles Rams traded up with the Tennessee Titans in the 2016 NFL draft and selected Goff number one overall. Goff finished his college career after three years of being the starting quarterback with the Golden Bears football team in 2015. Forgoing his senior year of college, Goff entered the NFL draft in 2016.

Jared Goff with the Rams

Goff and the Rams had a mixed five seasons together where they almost reached the pinnacle of the sport getting to Super Bowl LIII only to lose to the New England Patriots. Goff started his rookie year as the backup to QB1 Case Keenum and was on the sidelines till the tenth game of the 2016 season. Goff was given the starting job for the last seven games of the season. His career didn’t get underway the way he would have hoped as the Rams went on to lose all seven of those games. Moreover, his much-talked-about accuracy was under scrutiny as he completed only 54.6 percent of his passes and threw only five touchdowns as opposed to seven interceptions in 2016.

However, all was not lost as he began year 2 under new head coach Sean McVay and Goff earned his first career NFL victory in the very first game. Persisting with improved gameplay, Goff led the team to two consecutive postseasons in 2017 and 2018 throwing for 3,804 and 4,688 yards respectively. His passing touchdowns increased drastically in both years with 28 and 32 respectively. It looked like Goff may very well win the first ring of his career in 2018 but they came up against a gutsy Patriots defense which allowed the Rams only 3 points in the Super Bowl.

Then came two down years as the Rams completely crumbled in 2019 and 2020 although they somehow sneaked into the playoffs in the latter campaign. Failing to go further than the Divisional round in 2020, Los Angeles decided to part ways with Goff and look for a change.

Jared Goff with the Lions

After the 2020 season, the Rams traded Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions in a like-for-like trade as the Lions sent Matthew Stafford to the West Coast. The Lions themselves were in a rebuilding phase and that showed in their play as well. In the 14 games that Goff started in 2021, he won only 3 of them while tying 1. But, the 2023 NFL season is where everything came together for both Goff and the Lions as the team went on to reach the NFC Championship game but just came up short against the 49ers in a 31-34 loss. However, Jared Goff's performance throughout the postseason (4:0 Td: Int ratio) got praise from fans and the media community alike.

The 3-time pro bowler has led Detroit off to an amazing start in 2024. Through the first 11 weeks of the 2024 NFL season, Goff and the Lions are 9-1, sitting at the top of the NFC. Goff has thrown for 2,492 yards and 20 touchdown passes during this period.