Upon his hire, General manager Brad Holmes was thrown right into the fire, dealing with longtime Lion and hometown hero Matthew Stafford not wanting any part in what might turn out to be a long time rebuild. Holmes was able to construct a trade with his former team, the Los Angles Rams, that would send Stafford to the west coast, and in return, the Lions got a slew of draft picks that might help jump-start the rebuild.
The trade also brought in a player Holmes was quite familiar with and hopes that maybe a change of scenery is exactly what the doctor ordered. Jared Goff might get overlooked as nothing more than a thrown-in, but if you asked Holmes or Dan Campbell, that couldn’t be further from the truth. They believe Goff is exactly the type of quarterback with the grit and toughness to bring victories to Detroit.
Unfortunately, many analysts see Goff as nothing more than a bridge quarterback and felt they made a mistake by passing on Justin Fields, who went to the Chicago Bears four picks later in the 2021 draft. With record projections not in the Lions’ favor, Detroit should get the opportunity to draft their quarterback heading into the 2022 draft if they find one they love.
PFF recently put a preseason list ranking out all 32 QB starters ahead of the season. Unfortunately, they are not feeling the love for Goff, ranking him as the 26th best quarterback putting him in the same tier as Drew Lock, Jalen Hurts, and Sam Darnold.
A fresh start does players wonders, especially at the quarterback position. It also doesn’t hurt when you get a vote of confidence and your team takes Penei Sewell to protect you over some highly sought-after first-round quarterbacks. The Rams were third in the league in play-action pass attempts and tied for fifth in screen pass attempts. It will be imperative that the Lions help their QB and design an offense around what he’s comfortable with. Goff has a top-five passing grade when he has a clean pocket, is in rhythm and targets intermediate throws 10-19 yards downfield. He struggled when targeting 20-plus yard throws in the same scenario, earning the 29th-ranked passing grade out of 36 qualifying quarterbacks.
Getting the ball downfield in 2020 was a struggle, whether it was missed throws or negatively graded throws. This is probably why Goff led the league in passing yards on completions of 5 yards or less a season ago. The Lions seem to be building around Goff, and this is exactly what he needs to get his confidence back up so he can play at a high level again.
It is easy to bash on Goff, considering what happened last year after getting benched towards the ends of the season and into the playoffs, and most of the numbers fall in line with adequate quarterback standards. On top of PFF numbers, his ANY/A (adjusted net yards per attempt, along with touchdowns, interceptions, and sacks mixed in) was 6.27, good for 22nd in the league.
The front office has shown their confidence in Goff and doing their part in trying to surround him with valuable pieces to make sure he is given the best chance possible to succeed. Goff is also putting in the work so far this offseason creating the relationship necessary with his teammates.
Even though the rankings reflect Goff as a below-average quarterback and from accounts that may prove accurate, this front office and coaching staff are enamored by the young So-Cal kid and feel he can succeed in Detroit.
Other notables: Aaron Rodgers (3), Matthew Stafford (11), Kirk Cousins (14), Justin Fields (25).