Jared Goff speaks at the NFL Combine

Jared Goff would love to be drafted by the Browns.

(Dan Labbe/cleveland.com)

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cal quarterback Jared Goff cited Browns coach Hue Jackson as the reason he could change the narrative in win-starved Cleveland if the Browns draft him No. 2 overall.

"It starts with coach Jackson,'' Goff said during his podium interview Thursday at the NFL Combine. "He's a great coach, and that if he ends up choosing me or whatever quarterback he ends up choosing, he's going to be able to make the guy successful. He's a great coach, a great offensive mind and a great quarterback guy.''

Goff has heard great things about Jackson, a former Cal assistant, from some folks in Berkeley, and from their mutual good friend and Cal alum Michael Silver, an NFL Network analyst. Goff will spend time with Jackson here at the combine.

"I know he's a great offensive mind, and I know he's done a lot of great stuff with quarterbacks,'' Goff said. "I've not met him, but I'm excited to meet him and get a chance to talk to him.''

Between his respect for Jackson and belief in himself, Goff has no qualms about taking over a team that's had one winning season in the last 13 years.

"As far as myself, I'm confident in my abilities wherever I go, honestly,'' said Goff. "I'm very confident. I'm not going to stand up here and tell you everything about myself, but I'm confident and I think I can be successful anywhere."

Would he be happy to land in Cleveland?

"Absolutely,'' he said. "Yeah, I'll be happy to go anywhere."

Goff (6-4, 215) also has a huge fan in Browns top offensive assistant Pep Hamilton, who recruited him when he was at Stanford.

"I was at Stanford on their junior day and maybe a couple unofficial visits,'' said Goff. "I had a good relationship with him and he was good to me and I'm excited to talk to him while I'm here."

Hamilton praised Goff during his introductory news conference last week while recalling the recruiting process.

"I'm not surprised at all that he's one of the best quarterbacks in college football."

The notion of turning around a program doesn't faze Goff. Cal was 1-11 his freshman year and two years later an 8-5 season was capped by a 55-36 victory over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. Along the way, he was saddled with a bad defense and was sacked a ton, but fought through it.

"I learned you're going to have to start from the ground up, and honestly it starts with hard work, hard work in the off-season and no shortcuts really,'' he said.

"We were 1-11. We were terrible. We lost every single game besides the game against Portland State. We had to really start from the floor and build

everything up, and we were able to go 8-5 and win a bowl game. It was tremendous. It's a testament to our hard work.''

Goff is one of two quarterbacks the Browns are considering with their No. 2 overall pick, along with North Dakota State's Carson Wentz. Memphis' Paxton Lynch is also high on their list, but might be more of a candidate if they trade down a few notches.



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Ironically, Goff and Wentz share the same agent and have been working out together in California in preparation for the pre-draft process.

"Carson's a great player,'' said Goff. "Me and Carson have been training together for six or seven weeks. He's a great player, a helluva quarterback and he's going to be really good wherever he goes as well.''

He acknowledged that two have a friendly rivalry going every day when they take the field.

"Yeah, I think so. It's just like anything else, when we go out there and we throw together by no means is it cutthroat, but we're competitive with each other and just trying to do our best every day.''

Goff also learned something about himself at the combine that he didn't know.

"I heard I have small hands yesterday, apparently,'' he said. "Naw, I've never had a problem with that or expect it to be a problem at all.''

Goff's hands measured nine inches -- which is just below the 9 1/8 that teams like to see. At one point during his interview, he chuckled over the hand question.

"Yeah, I've played football my whole life and never had any problem with that,'' he said.

Browns Executive Vice President Sashi Brown said Goff's hand size shouldn't be an issue. "If a guy can throw a ball in college he'll be able to throw it in the pros,'' he said. "I don't think that will be a problem for Jared, but it's something you do look at. All these measurements and things you can get distracted by.

"The important thing is not to divorce yourself from what's most important: How did they play on Saturdays over the last two or three years in college? He played well, as a number of these guys did. We'll look at that, but not weigh it too heavily.''

Brown acknowledged that the Browns are looking hard at all the top quarterback, who will work out on Saturday.

"We do think there's a number of good quarterbacks in the draft,'' he said. "It's probably not as robust a draft class at quarterback as some prior drafts have been. As you learn, hindsight is the easier way to evaluate a draft class. We'll do everything we can at that position and many others to figure out whether Goff, Wentz, Lynch, any of these other guys out there -- (Indiana's Nate) Sudfeld and others that are being discussed -- are right fit for the Browns and what we need from that position. Too early to make a final conclusion. I won't be able to tell you too much about who we really love.''

Goff acknowledged that he'll have to make the leap from spread quarterback to pro-style passer under center.

"But there's a transition with every quarterback coming from college to the NFL,'' he said. "So I'm excited for it, honestly. I did a lot of stuff in college that does translate well and again there's a lot of stuff I need to improve on.''

He said plenty of his skills will transfer.

"All the dropback pass stuff we did is included in the NFL,'' he said. "The third-down stuff is a lot of shotgun nowadays. You see teams move more towards shotgun and I've been training under center for about six weeks, not a while, but enough where I feel comfortable with it. Again, I'm excited to further my game in that area and just get better every day.''

Goff also addressed concerns that he's too slight. Like Teddy Bridgewater, Goff has thin calves.

"I've been trying to put weight on my whole life and I've been able to do it,'' he said. "I've gained about 10 pounds every year since I was about 14. So I'm 21 now and I weigh 215, maybe when I'm 24 I'll be 245. I can always improve on that, but at the same time I was pretty durable during college. Took a lot of hits, took a lot of sacks and was able to get up from every one of them.''

ESPN's Mel Kiper said this week that it would be a coin flip for the Browns between Goff and Wentz, and NFL Network's Mike Mayock agreed. Of course, another team can foil their plans by trading up to No. 1 with Tennessee and taking their man.

"Regarding Goff, polished, great in the pocket, finds lanes to throw,'' said Mayock. "Really good arm, not elite but a really good arm. Very accurate with a quick release, the most ready to play quarterback in the draft today. If you're Cleveland, I think you've got to make some decisions about how you want to go about it. I just think you have to make a decision if you're the Browns as to which direction you want to go in. Which kid do you believe in more?''

One thing's for sure: Goff, who recently dubbed himself the best player in the draft, knows who it should be.

"I think I'm going to improve a team the day I get there, honestly,'' he said. "I think I can be the guy who can play right away, the guy who can sit if I need to and learn. Honestly I'm excited for whatever team wants to draft me and I'm excited to make an impact right away.''