Looking back, PFF thinks Rams should have taken different QB in 2016 NFL Draft
Looking back, PFF thinks Rams should have taken different QB in 2016 NFL Draft
One of the biggest moves of the Los Angeles Rams' franchise came in 2016 when the team traded up to the No. 1 overall pick.
At the time, it was expected that either Cal's Jared Goff or North Dakota State's Carson Wentz would be taken first. The Rams took Goff, who had a solid career with the team before being used as a trade chip to acquire Matthew Stafford five years later.
It's easy to look back at previous NFL drafts and make new picks based on future information. And Pro Football Focus' Dalton Wasserman re-drafted the No. 1 overall picks from the past 19 drafts. For 2016, he picked Dak Prescott over Goff.
"The Rams traded a king's ransom for the opportunity to select Jared Goff with the first pick in 2016, but had they known what Dak Prescott would become, they may have opted for him as their franchise quarterback instead," Wasserman wrote. "Prescott's 87.8 career PFF passing grade outpaces Goff's 82.5 mark. He has also provided significantly more value on the ground than Goff, accruing an 80.9 PFF rushing grade so far in his career."
This analysis is all well and good, but while Goff isn't the Rams quarterback anymore, he played a huge role in the acquisition of the quarterback who delivered a Super Bowl — Stafford. Would Prescott have been able to win where Goff could not? Maybe. Or would the team have been able to trade Prescott for Stafford, given Prescott's skillset?
We'll never know, but the Rams' path led to a Super Bowl win in the end. The issue now, is, how long will Stafford remain?
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