Greg Cosell's draft preview: Jared Goff's strengths and flaws

I see a lot of good traits in Cal quarterback Jared Goff. His size, throwing ability and pocket attributes are all first-round pick worthy.

I think Goff is a more natural and better overall thrower than Marcus Mariota. Overall I think he’s a better prospect than Mariota or Jameis Winston, who went with the first two picks of last year’s draft. But a few questions remain, and they need to be looked at hard by NFL teams.

The two biggest issues I have with Goff are questions about his ability to deal with the adversity of the game and dealing with pass rush pressure.

When I look at the Utah game, it’s not a good piece of tape for Goff. He threw five interceptions, but it’s more than just the number of interceptions. It was more worrisome how his tendency to play fast and hurried showed in that game and led to the turnovers. He didn't react well in this game.

This hurried throw in the face of the pass rush when he had nobody open is a good example of how his poise and composure must be evaluated carefully:

Goff's tough day against Utah can be seen here:

Goff’s feet at times can be a little jumpy and frenetic. That’s not a good thing, and you wonder how that will play out against the better and faster pass rushers in the NFL.

Despite that, Goff clearly has traits you look for in an NFL quarterback: light feet, good balance, pocket awareness and movement, compact delivery, natural accuracy. A third-and-5 throw against Washington is a good example of what Goff does well, moving well in the pocket, then delivering a strong, accurate throw for a 20-yard gain (it's at 7:42 of this video). 

One thing that consistently stood out about Goff was his natural ability to make the right kind of throw when needed. He threw with touch when needed and velocity when needed. Goff is an easy, natural thrower – his arm strength would be comparable to Matt Ryan. He is an aggressive thrower, willing to turn it loose at the intermediate levels and with the ability to throw with pace and touch when the situation calls for it. He has the look of a natural pocket quarterback at times.

Here’s a throw where Goff showed excellent trajectory, touch and ball placement on a fade route that went for a 35-yard touchdown (it's the first play on the Utah video above).

That's a really good throw.

There’s a lot that goes into playing quarterback in the NFL, but I saw some things that lead me to believe Goff can handle the subtle nuances of the position.

One thing he does is move his feet with his eyes always looking downfield, which is a refined attribute. Even though Cal’s offense is a shotgun spread offense in the mold of Hal Mumme and Mike Leach, it uses NFL route concepts with vertical and intermediate throws. Goff didn’t play in a dink-and-dunk offense. He has good functional movement in the pocket and is willing to turn it loose, which I like to see.

There are a lot of things to like about Goff. There are a few concerns, which really showed up in the Utah game, that NFL teams will have to look hard at. I think Carson Wentz is a better NFL prospect than Goff, and Wentz is my top quarterback in this draft, but Goff has a lot to offer as well.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.