Quarterback Jared Goff displayed significant progress in his second season and now has been rewarded for his performance. On Friday, the Pro Football Writers of America named Goff their NFL's Most Improved Player in 2017.
The quarterback is the first Ram to receive the award, which has been given out yearly since 2000.
Goff led the Rams to an 11-4 record in their first 15 games of 2017, completing 62.1 percent of his passes for 3,804 yards with 28 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Goff finished No. 5 in passer rating (100.5), averaged 8.0 yards per attempt, and led the league with 12.9 yards per completion.
Those numbers all represent tremendous development from Goff's rookie season, which he ended having completed 54.6 percent of his passes for 1,089 yards with five touchdowns and seven interceptions. Goff's 2016 passer rating was 63.6, as he averaged 5.3 yards per attempt and 9.7 yards per completion.
"This year, the team won 11 games and a division when he was a starter," general manager Les Snead said recently. "From last year to now, you go from, 'Who are we?' to 'We expect to go win games with Jared Goff as QB.' I think that's where teams are at — you expect to win or some teams say, 'Hey, I hope we can win.' The QB is a big part of that."
And at the end of the season, head coach Sean McVay said he feels there's room for Goff to improve even more heading into 2018.
"You can draw on those experiences and I think this year being able to play in 16 games — because he ended sitting out of that last one [of the regular season] — will serve him really well," McVay said. "He'll be able to look at himself critically, learn from some of the mistakes. He did a lot of really good things too. I think it allows him to go into the offseason program with a lot of confidence. A lot of things that we'll be able to pick out specifically what we feel like are going to be key focal points and points of emphasis for him, but in terms of leading, just playing the position, the command overall very pleased with Jared and I thought he had a good year."
Goff is one of many Rams to receive PFWA honors this week. McVay was named Coach of the Year on Thursday and running back Todd Gurley was named Offensive Player of the Year on Wednesday. Gurley, left tackle Andrew Whitworth, defensive tackle Aaron Donald, kicker Greg Zuerlein, punter Johnny Hekker, and kick returner Pharoh Cooper were named to the All-NFL team and All-NFC team. And wide receiver Cooper Kupp was named to the PFWA All-Rookie team.
The PFWA is comprised of accredited writers who provide daily coverage of the NFL and its 32 teams.
