The Saturday night trade of Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams sent immediate reverberations through the football world. The Rams are now without a first-round pick for years, having shipped multiple first-rounders to the Motor City – along with a third-round pick – for Stafford.
But there is another piece to the deal, one that has largely stayed under the radar. The Rams also included a quarterback in the deal, one who you can assume will be a starting quarterback for the start of the 2021 season.
So the question is this: How can the Detroit Lions maximize Jared Goff?
It is important to remember at this moment that the new Lions general manager, who was integral to this deal, is Brad Holmes. His previous job? He was the Director of College Scouting for the Rams. During his tenure Los Angeles drafted players such as Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley, Cooper Kupp, and yes, Jared Goff.
Holmes, in fact, was at least one of the people in Los Angeles “banging the table” for the Rams to trade up and draft Goff back in 2016, so Goff is reunited with a general manager who truly believes in what he can be as a passer.
So how can new Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn make the most out of Detroit’s new quarterback, bolstering Holmes’ beliefs in the QB?
First, Lynn needs to identify the issues with Goff in Los Angeles. These have been covered extensively in the past, and they boil down to a single word: hesitation. Goff, even at this point in his career, still can be too cautious in the pocket. It is an issue that can be traced from this season back to Super Bowl LIII and the 2018 campaign:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JROSdDvgD3E
By now everyone probably knows how Sean McVay was able to prop up Goff and make him effective in the Rams’ offense. Using eye candy, play-action and a very quarterback-friendly scheme, McVay put Goff in a position to be successful. But even in that environment, Goff never fully developed. Yes, the McVay/Shanahan system has proved that it can make average quarterbacks look good due to the scheme, but does it perhaps hold back their development? By creating so many crutches for them, does it stunt their growth?
Consider this. Over a year ago I wrote a piece with the title “Ruining Quarterbacks 2.0: Zheng He, Admiral James Stavridis, And the Precarious Handling of Young Quarterbacks.” While reading “Sailing True North,” written by Admiral Stavridis, who was once the Supreme Commander of NATO, I came across a passage that made me think of quarterbacks.
Goff in particular:
At every port of call, Zheng He was confronted by new and often dangerous situations, which required him to make a range of quick decisions weighing his mission, the safety of his ships and crew; and his perception of the scene on the ground. During his third voyage, Zheng He called in Sri Lanka in the midst of a three-way civil war between a Sinhalese Buddhist kingdom in the south, a Tamil Muslim kingdom in the north, and a rebel Sinhalese warrior who fought both.
His instructions to establish relations with the people on the island were silent on this unforeseen and challenging situation, which must have taken the admiral himself some time to decipher. (By chance, Zheng He’s first contact was with the rebel leader, which could not have made things easier for him.) He was forced to adapt to the events on the ground without recourse to “instructions” from higher authority. He was able to establish trading relations with all three groups and kept Chinese neutrality – and opportunity for further trade – alive.
Even with the ubiquity and speed of modern communications, today’s leaders still frequently find themselves called to make similar decisions: on the scene, on the spur of the moment, and on limited situational understanding. In many cases, developing the ability to operate autonomously while remaining within the intent of one’s mission is an important part of a leader’s developmental process–and one that today’s leaders may have to develop on their own initiative. If a young leader comes to over-rely on constant and near-instant access to higher authority, he or she can miss out on this crucial maturation step. (Emphasis added)
All I could think about was Goff, and how McVay structured his offense down to breaking the huddle early in the play clock so he could continue to give his quarterback advice through the helmet radio.
It made Goff effective, but was he too missing out on the critical maturation step identified by Stavridis?
Perhaps Lynn can find a way to tap into the QB that Goff can be, and there might be a way.
If indecisiveness is the problem, have there been moments – outside of the schematic elements of McVay’s offense – where Goff has been more decisive with the football?
I found them when the formation was emptied and Goff was alone in the pocket.