LA Rams Select Jared Goff as No. 1 Pick in Today's Draft [UPDATED]

Updated at 7 p.m. April 28, 2016

LOS ANGELES, CA - Ending two weeks of speculation, the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday selected Cal quarterback Jared Goff with the first pick of the NFL draft.

Rams officials had been tight-lipped about their plans for the number- one pick since they acquired it in an April 14 trade with the Tennessee Titans. The team was guaranteed to select a quarterback, with the only question being whether it would be Goff or North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz, who wound up being chosen by the Philadelphia Eagles with the draft's second pick.

The Rams, who had 10 minutes to make a selection once the draft was declared open shortly after 5 p.m., stretched the suspense by waiting about seven minutes before submitting the team's pick, which was then announced in Chicago by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

"It's exciting. It's an exciting time for the whole organization," Goff said. "I'm very proud to be the pick they chose. It's a very big honor and something, you know, like I said, I'm gonna prove them right and let them know they made the right decision."

Asked about his first thoughts when he heard his name called, Goff said it was "how honored and excited I am to really get down there and get to work."

"It's been a long process. It's been a long four months or so, and for it to be finally come to a close now, and I'm ready to take that next step into a professional football career and work as hard as I can to be as successful as I can," he said.

Goff said the biggest adjustment he will have to make in the NFL will be getting used to the speed of the professional game.

"The speed's always that much faster," Goff said. "I made the transition from high school to college pretty seamlessly and kind of expect to do the same thing.

Goff set 26 school records in his three seasons with Cal, including passing yards (12,220), passing yards per game (329.7), touchdown passes (96), completions (977), passes (1,569) and total offense (12,086 yards).

Goff started all 37 games possible during his college career and is the only quarterback in school history in to start his first game as a true freshman.

The 21-year-old Goff is listed at 6 feet 4 inches tall and 215 pounds. Six recruiting services listed him as a four-star recruit out of Marin Catholic High School -- one short of the maximum -- while one gave him three stars.

Goff and the team's other picks in the draft, which continues through Saturday, and the players bypassed in the draft they sign as free agents, will participate in the team's three-day rookie mini-camp which begins May 6 at the Residence Inn River Ridge in Oxnard.

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ORIGINAL STORY

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LOS ANGELES, CA - The Los Angeles Rams have the first choice in today's NFL draft and are expected to select a quarterback -- either Jared Goff of California or Carson Wentz of North Dakota State.

Coach Jeff Fisher initially only said at a news conference this week that the team would probably select an offensive player with the choice acquired from the Tennessee Titans in an April 14 trade.

When asked if the team has decided who that player will be, Fisher responded, "Maybe."

The team will call the player they choose "just prior to" submitting the card making the choice official, Fisher said.

"There's only a few things better in life than this phone call," said Fisher, an NFL head coach for all but one year since 1994 and a seventh-round choice by the Chicago Bears in the 1981 draft.

"It's a great experience for them and we do not want to deny our pick the opportunity to experience that."

The Rams will have 10 minutes to submit the card with the name of the player they want after Commissioner Roger Goodell declares the draft open.

Although general manager Les Snead said he wasn't sure how long the Rams would take to submit the card, he said it might "be more like seven minutes."

Snead praised Goff and Wentz, both of whom were brought by the Rams to Southern California for what Fisher described as "hours and hours and hours" of visits.

"Both of the players are very good and they're both going to have very good careers," Snead said.

Goff set 26 school records in his three seasons with California, including passing yards (12,220), passing yards per game (329.7), touchdown passes (96), completions (977), passes (1,569) and total offense (12,086 yards).

Goff started all 37 games possible during his college career and is the only quarterback in school history in to start his first game as a true freshman.

The 21-year-old Goff is listed at 6 feet 4 inches tall and 215 pounds. Six recruiting services listed him as a four-star recruit out of Marin Catholic High School -- one short of the maximum -- while one gave him three stars.

Wentz didn't become North Dakota State's starting quarterback until his fourth season in the program. He started all 16 games in the 2015 season, leading the Bison to the Football Championship Subdivision title.

Wentz started the first six games of the 2015 season before being sidelined with a broken right wrist. He was cleared to play the week of the national championship game and completed 16 of 29 passes for 197 yards and one touchdown and ran for a team-high 79 yards and two touchdowns in a 37-10 victory over Jacksonville State.

Wentz is third in school history in passing yards (5,115), touchdown passes (45), completions (392) and passes (612).

The 23-year-old Wentz is listed at 6 feet 6 inches and 235 pounds. He will be the first North Dakota State quarterback chosen in an NFL draft.

The player the Rams choose today, the remainder of their selections in the draft, which continues through Saturday, and the players bypassed in the draft they sign as free agents, will participate in the team's three-day rookie mini-camp which begins May 6 at the Residence Inn River Ridge in Oxnard.

City News Service, photo courtesy of Cal Bears, LA Rams