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The Los Angeles Rams have a Week 1 matchup with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. It’s a game that has a lot of Fantasy Football implications.
The Panthers have Cam Newton and Christian McCaffrey as their two big stars. Meanwhile, the Rams have Todd Gurley and their fantasy wide receiver corps. Quarterback Jared Goff could be the one shining brightest this year though.
What exactly is on tap for the quarterback this year? That all starts with his first game. What’s the fantasy outlook for Rams quarterback Jared Goff in Week 1 against the Panthers?
The Rams have one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL. They used that offense to get themselves to the Super Bowl last season. It also helped make Goff a rising superstar at quarterback.
Then the Super Bowl happened. The Rams scored just three points against the New England Patriots and suddenly the narrative shifted.
Goff suffered the most from this, which really isn’t fair. He had a bad game on a big stage, sure. But that shouldn’t negate everything else he did the entire season. Somehow it sort of did though.
Due to that, Goff didn’t enter this year with the hype he should have as a fantasy quarterback. He had the fourth most passing yards and sixth most passing touchdowns last year. Clearly, he’s one of the top-tier fantasy QB’s.
Yet, look around your fantasy leagues. I bet he was taken later than the numbers suggest he should have. He’s probably not even starting on some teams for whatever reason.
He should be though. The Panthers’ defense isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. They have a very formidable defensive line and of course Luke Kuechly is a superstar at linebacker.
However, Goff and the Rams made it pretty obvious that any defense wouldn’t stop them on most nights. That makes sense too. With Gurley at running back, teams have to focus on him. Meanwhile, the three-headed monster of Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods, and Cooper Kupp give him more than enough targets to throw to.
You can even throw in Josh Reynolds and tight ends Gerald Everett and Tyler Higbee into that group if you want. The options are basically endless for Goff.
With that in mind, the fantasy outlook for Jared Goff in Week 1 is pretty simple – it’s high. He’s going up against a good defense, but it’s not like it’s something he’s never seen before. The Rams have a great team around him and a system designed perfectly to make him succeed. Not to mention, Goff himself is ultra talented.
If you have him on your team, there’s a 99% chance he should be starting. Not many quarterbacks have as high of a floor as him.
Yes, Goff had some bad games last year, but he’s still improving as a quarterback. Remember, he’ll be getting Kupp back (who missed eight games last year), making that offense even more dangerous.
Simply put, it’s hard to imagine many games where Goff isn’t putting up 250-plus yards and a touchdown or two this year. Sure, they’ll likely happen, but it will become less-and-less frequent.
Week 1 is always a little challenging because you could argue some rust still needs to be shaken off. However, that goes both ways. And with the Rams making it known that they don’t want to overrun Gurley early on, they could look to pass pretty often.
That’s a recipe for massive numbers from the quarterback. With that in mind, Jared Goff will put up strong fantasy numbers in Week 1 against the Panthers. You should definitely be starting the Los Angeles Rams quarterback.