Video: Way Back When - Jared Goff
Marin Catholic (Kentfield, Calif.) football coach Mazi Moayed knew it was unfair, but he drew the comparisons anyway.
"He's got that poise and demeanor of Joe Montana," he said.
Moayed was talking about
Jared Goff, who was only a junior in high school at the time. Montana was also one of Goff's idols. He wore the famed No. 16 in high school and college.
See high school footage of 25 of the best players in this year's draft
Jared Goff will likely be the top selection in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Photo by Dennis Lee
It's still not fair to compare Goff to one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, but Goff is about to surpass Montana in one respect. By a large margin.
By about all accounts, the Cal junior will be the No. 1 pick overall in Thursday's NFL draft. Montana, despite his prolific career, was a third-round selection.
Goff had an illustrious prep career at Marin Catholic, completing 446 of 715 passes for 7,066 yards, 93 touchdowns and just 18 interceptions. The Wildcats went 39-4 in his three-year career. He was ranked the 15th best pro-style quarterback in the Class of 2013 by
247Sports, and considered just three offers: Cal, Boise State and Washington State.
In three years at Cal, he completed 977 of 1,568 attempts for 12,195 yards, 96 touchdowns and 30 touchdowns. Besides a quick release and accurate arm, Goff's calm, cool demeanor is quite similar to Joe "Cool" Montana.
All five experts on the latest
CBS Sports mock draft boards
say Goff will be selected by the Rams with the No. 1 pick. The Rams moved up 14 spots just to take the 6-foot-4, 215-pounder, the son of former major league baseball player Jerry Goff, a Cal graduate.
Earlier this month, Jared Goff gave his old high school coach a call.
"He asked what I was doing on the 28th," Moayed said. "I told him I wasn't sure, but if he wanted to workout at school, I'm sure it would be cool."
Goff laughed and invited him to Thursday's draft at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. Moayed was more than a little touched. On Tuesday, from his Chicago hotel, he was a little overwhelmed.
"Honestly, this is all a little surreal," Moayed said. "I mean, we knew Jared was special. But you never expect something like this."
An NFL player? Sure, that was probably on everyone's radar. But the No. 1 pick? That's special company. When Goff ran a 4.83 40-yard time at the combine, faster than Vernon Adams even, Maoyed was reminded of what a special athlete Goff is.
It's not only his cerebral play, big arm and calm demeanor.
"It's a combination of all of it," he said. "He was a great three-sport athlete until he focused on football. He can make a lot of plays with his feet too."
But it's his head that sets him apart, Moayed said. And his character. The Main Catholic coach said he received calls from more than 10 NFL teams asking in great detail about Goff's character, a facet that Moayed said exceeds all his top traits: Humility, confidence, fearlessness.
"Jared is just Jared," Moayed said. "He's focused on himself, grateful to be in the position he's in. He feels like he's good enough to be that guy. It's exciting for him. But he won't get ahead of himself."
