Meet the Rams: Case Keenum’s the starting QB for now while Jared Goff waits for his turn
The last time the Rams had the No. 1 overall pick they drafted Sam Bradford out of Oklahoma in 2010.
That year, when the first depth chart came out Bradford, the then-future of the franchise, was listed as a backup and surrendered most of the first-team reps in training camp to newly signed veteran quarterback A.J. Feeley. Bradford even came off the bench the first two preseason games.
Jump forward to 2016 and the players are Case Keenum and new No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, but it’s the same old story.
On a depth chart released Monday, Keenum was listed ahead of Goff and is set to start in the Rams’ first preseason game Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys at the Coliseum.
In Bradford’s case, he remained a backup for only two exhibition games before an injury took Feeley out. He went on to start all 16 games as a rookie and remained the incumbent starter until he was traded in 2015.
Keenum, who signed a one-year deal during the offseason, has the advantage of playing last season under Coach Jeff Fisher and Offensive Coordinator Rob Boras.
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He also has a winning, albeit small, record of 3-2 as a starter for the Rams (5-10 career). With the Rams he completed 60.8% of his passes for 824 yards and four touchdowns with one pass intercepted.
Goff enters the picture coming off a first-team All-Pac-12 season at California where he set single-season conference records for passing yards (4,714) and touchdown passes (43). In three years, he completed 62.3% of his throws for 96 touchdowns and had 30 passes intercepted.
Goff has never been a backup. He overtook a presumptive starter Zach Kline as a true freshman and started all 37 games in college. For now, he’s in for a new set of experiences, whether it’s on the sideline or on the field.
No. 17 Case Keenum, 6-foot-1, 205 pounds
Keenum, 28, came out of Houston as one of the most prolific passers in NCAA history. Keenum holds the record for career passing yards (19,217), passing touchdowns (155) and completions (1,546). His final season he threw 48 touchdown passes with just five interceptions. Then he went undrafted.
Keenum started his NFL career on the Houston Texans’ practice squad in 2012. He got brought up in 2013 as a third stringer and ended up making eight starts, passing for 220 yards per game with nine touchdown throws. But he had six passes intercepted and went without a win.
In 2014, he was cut in training camp and acquired by the Rams. Then he got cut, again, and signed with the Rams’ practice squad until Houston came calling, again.
Keenum started the final two games of 2014 for the Texans, delivering wins over the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars.
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The Rams traded the Texans a seventh-round pick (who turned into a punter for the New York Jets through another trade) for Keenum.
In five starts last season, he threw for 828 yards, had four touchdowns and one pass intercepted. Coach Jeff Fisher named Keenum the incumbent in January.
No. 16 Jared Goff, 6-foot-4, 215 pounds
Goff, 21, arrived at a floundering California football program in 2013, fresh off the firing of coach Jeff Tedford and the first year of the Sonny Dykes era.
In three years, Goff led the Golden Bears to records of 1-11, 5-7 and then 8-5 his junior season, which included a bowl win over Air Force.
Goff had four games his final season at California where he threw four or more touchdowns while averaging more than 362 passing yards per game. He had a seven-touchdown game against Colorado his second season at California.
The one aberration on his college record is a five-interception game against Utah, but in that game he passed for 340 yards and had two touchdown throws as California lost a close one, 30-24.
In 37 collegiate starts, Goff was held without a touchdown throw just five times, all of which came his freshman and sophomore years.
No. 14 Sean Mannion, 6-foot-6, 233 pounds
Mannion, 24, is another Pac-12 legend. The third-round pick out of Oregon State was a gunslinger in college, finishing with the conference’s career record for passing yards (13,600).
He finished college with a completion percentage of 66.3% and had 83 touchdowns with 54 intercepted passes.
The second-year pro appeared in one game for the Rams as a rookie. Mannion took the field in the final two minutes of a 31-7 loss to the Bengals in which starter Nick Foles had three passes intercepted and zero touchdown.s
Mannion completed six of seven throws for 31 yards.
Other quarterbacks: No. 2 Dylan Thompson
Follow Matt Wilhalme on Twitter @mattwilhalme
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