MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. -- At last week's NFL Scouting Combine, the newly minted Los Angeles Rams did their best to sell Case Keenum as the team's potential starting quarterback for 2016.
Coach Jeff Fisher confirmed that Keenum would hold the top spot throughout the offseason, while general manager Les Snead repeatedly praised the 3-1 record his young passer compiled after unseating the ineffective Nick Foles.
Keenum on Friday laughed about all the quarterback questions, joking that reporters were simply trying to get the Rams "to change their answer."
That's fair. Los Angeles is expected to add plenty of competition through free agency and the draft, with Peyton Manning and Robert Griffin III both whispered about as potential matches. Keenum, though, isn't sweating it, saying this latest opportunity feels different because the team is treating him like the de facto starter.
"It's the first time that I've had a coach believe in me through the offseason like this," Keenum told Around The NFL at the Manhattan Beach Marriott. "So, I'm excited about the position that I'm in and the position the team is in. I think we're poised to make that next step and be a playoff contender."
Bottom line: Undrafted and saddled with a thin track record, Keenum still feels like a placeholder at the most important position in sports. If he's worried about his job status, though, he didn't reveal that on Friday.
"I want to be the leader this team needs me to be. And the leader that I know how to be," Keenum said. "It's not just on the field on Sundays. It's not just on the field during the week in practice. It's off the field. It's in the meeting rooms. It's in the training room, the weight room, it's in the cafeteria talking to guys. All those things are very important to me, and I hope the guys look at me like that."
