Jared Goff moves into top ten, Tier 2 of The Athletic’s quarterback tiers
One of the most-anticipated quarterback projects of the summer from The Athletic has been unveiled, the annual Quarterback Tiers from Mike Sando. The top 30 quarterbacks were ranked and tiered. This year ended up being kind to Lions quarterback Jared Goff.
Goff cracked the top ten of this year’s rankings and reached Tier 2 for the first time since 2019. Of the 50 voters — made up of head coaches, general managers, assistants and executives — 36 voted Goff into Tier 2. Two actually voted Goff as a Tier 1 quarterback. To put that into perspective, only three quarterbacks landed in Tier 1 this season: Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen.
The remaining 12 voters had Goff in Tier 3.
The Athletic describes Tier 2 quarterbacks as those that “can carry his team sometimes but not as consistently. He can handle pure-passing situations in doses and/or possesses other dimensions that are special enough to elevate him above Tier 3. He has a hole or two in his game.”
Here is what The Athletic wrote about Goff in their rankings:
It’s been a long road back for Goff, who reached Tier 2 for the first time since 2019, when he was coming off a Super Bowl with the Rams.
One defensive coordinator called Goff a better, younger version of Kirk Cousins: lacking in mobility, but proficient in identifying defenses before the snap, getting his team in the right plays, working through progressions and minimizing mistakes.
“It is set up so that it’s right in front of him, and he doesn’t have to make a lot of decisions on the field,” another defensive coordinator said. “They’ve got a good run game, they have a bunch of checkdowns to the tight end, they’ve got good players around him. He just has to go 1-2-3 and fire the ball. But he is another guy who, if it came down to a two-minute drive, I wouldn’t feel great about him in that situation.”
Goff’s 2.20 average and No. 10 ranking are both career bests in eight Tiers appearances.
“He got an offense he can run, and he’s getting rid of the ball,” a head coach said. “I don’t think he ever wins the big one, but he played well enough last year to go from a 3 to a 2. He has to have the weapons around him. He can’t do it by himself.”
One defensive coach pointed to Goff and Tua Tagovailoa as top-five picks who have produced at near-elite and borderline replacement levels at various points, based on what’s around them.
“Goff is somewhere between Tier 2 and Tier 3 for me,” an assistant GM said. “He has been really good, but I think he has a great system and good personnel. I’m not sure he carries the team. He is a traditional pocket guy that needs protection but makes all the throws. He lacks mobility, and I’m not sure he can carry the team exclusively.”
To get a sense of the improvement of Goff, here are some numbers from last year versus this year with Goff in the Tiers.
Goff has rebounded quite nicely after basically being told he wasn’t good enough for Sean McVay and the Rams. He has the Lions firmly in position to make a run at the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans.
