It's a common saying in sports that if you want to be the best, you have to compete against the best. For the Rams' offense, this adage took on a literal meaning throughout the offseason program.

In OTAs and minicamp, the unit got its first taste of the heightened level of competition that would soon become commonplace at practice — going up against two of the league's most elite cornerbacks in Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters.

"It raises the level of competition and the level of trying to be exact with everything," quarterback Jared Goff said. "I think when those guys are out there, the margin for error is so much smaller."

And while the first-team offense didn't go up against the first-team defense too often, Goff said whenever he did find himself competing against the cornerbacks, "they gave us fits." But he was thankful for the increased competition, because it forced him to eliminate small errors and work on his accuracy.

Talib and Peters' presence has also been an advantage for the wide receivers group. By working against two of the best, receivers like Brandin Cooks believe the group will be able to play even better once the regular season hits.

"It's a dream to be honest to be able to go against guys like that in practice," Cooks said. "As a receiver, that builds my confidence, so come game time, I've [gone] against two of the best corners arguably playing in this game right now every single day."

Though like Cooks, Goff is happy to be practicing against Talib and Peters, he was admittedly thankful that he won't be up against them when it matters most.  

"I think about how I don't know how other quarterbacks are going to have too much of a great time going against those two guys, it's tough," Goff said. "But it definitely helps me get better and helps our receivers get better."