After cycling through quarterback after quarterback, the Los Angeles Rams finally found their franchise signal caller in 2016 when they drafted Jared Goff first overall. They had to trade up 14 spots to land the former Cal QB, but being desperate to change their fortunes, they gambled on Goff.
With hindsight on their side, would they make that same decision again nine years later? Pro Football Focus doesn’t think that’d be the right call for the Rams. PFF redrafted the first round of the 2016 class and they have the Rams passing on Goff at the top of the draft, taking Dak Prescott instead.
Prescott wasn’t drafted until No. 135 overall but he immediately became a star in Dallas, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and making three Pro Bowls since 2016. It’s hard to say Goff was the wrong choice for Los Angeles, especially seeing as he led the Rams to the Super Bowl in 2018, but both quarterbacks have had strong careers up to this point.
With Prescott going first overall, Goff dropped only one spot to the Eagles at No. 2 in PFF’s redraft. That would be a no-brainer selection for Philadelphia, which took Carson Wentz second overall in a move that yielded some great results – including an MVP-caliber campaign – but didn’t ultimately work out due to injuries and Wentz’s regression.
There’s a great argument to keep Goff as the No. 1 overall pick: He brought the Rams to the Super Bowl in 2018 and boasts an 83.3 career PFF overall grade so far. But since the team traded Goff in 2021 to the Lions for an upgrade in Matthew Stafford, we’ll instead give them Dak Prescott.
After being drafted in the fourth round by the Dallas Cowboys, Prescott has turned into one of the NFL’s better quarterbacks. He has made four Pro Bowls and owns an elite 90.7 career PFF overall grade. In 2023, he was the most valuable player in the league, according to PFF WAR.
As for the other two first-round quarterbacks in that class, Carson Wentz and Paxton Lynch, they both experienced big slides in PFF’s redraft. Wentz fell to No. 22 in this exercise after originally being drafted second overall by the Eagles, while Lynch unsurprisingly fell out of the first round after going No. 26 overall to the Broncos in 2016.
The Rams truly couldn’t go wrong with Goff or Prescott at the top of the draft, which is a testament to how well both quarterbacks have played in their careers despite being selected 134 picks apart. There might be a case for Prescott eventually being a better fit in Sean McVay’s offense thanks to his mobility but McVay also wasn’t the coach when Goff was drafted. Jeff Fisher was.
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This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: LA Rams pass on Jared Goff for Dak Prescott in 2016 NFL redraft