The Lions have yet to win their first game of the season, and QB Jared Goff has struggled in the last two contests, including a blowout loss at the hands of the Bengals last week. Rookie head coach Dan Campbell did not mince words in his post-game presser, saying that Goff “needs to step up more than he has.”
Still, Goff is in no immediate danger of being benched, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. After all, backup signal-caller David Blough is clearly not the long-term solution at quarterback, and Goff might still be, so there have been no conversations about pulling Goff from the starting lineup.
The fact that the rebuilding Lions have dealt with significant O-line injuries and are lacking talent at the wide receiver position should also buy Goff a little bit of slack. Plus, the club has at least been competitive in several games this season, and arguably should have defeated Baltimore in Week 3 and Minnesota in Week 5.
There is also Goff’s contract to consider. New GM Brad Holmes said his decision to take on Goff’s mega-deal in this offseason’s blockbuster trade with the Rams was not solely motivated by his ability to squeeze more draft picks out of Los Angeles, and that he believes Goff can recapture the Pro Bowl form he displayed in the 2017-18 seasons. Still, Goff is guaranteed $26.15MM next year, and the Lions cannot realistically get out of his deal before the end of the 2022 campaign, so he will be given every chance to earn his keep.
Through six games in 2021, Goff has completed 66.8% of his passes for seven TDs and four picks. His 86.9 QB rating — which has been dragged down by his last two outings — positions him in the bottom third of the league, and Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics consider him the 26th-best passer out of 33 qualified players.
He’ll be back next year is my bet. Everything I hear & see on TV, this year’s college QB’s just really don’t stand out. Doesn’t mean they’ll all fail, but probably be drafted lower in the round.
This year’s top QB prospects are Howell at UNC, Corral at Ole Miss, Pickett at Pitt or maybe that Willis kid at Liberty. They should’ve taken a QB before trading Stafford, but they’re too worried about hurting anyone’s feelings. It’s the same reason they didn’t take a QB last year; didn’t want to make Goff feel unwelcome.
Should have taken Herbert 3rd overall when then had the chance knowing that this could have happened okudah never should have been an option with Herbert available
No choice to bring him back. If they draft a QB, he will play half of 2022. If a team needs a QB, they could get a draft pick.
Well, Goff’s not playing well enough to cost them draft positioning, the team is surrounded by even poorer performers to support him (not all, but most), and Blough is much worse than he is. If the Lions want to pull Goff, there is really no clear advantage to doing so. Allison being activated this week at WR is the best chance Detroit has at improving offensive production in any way, because other than that, there are no clear upgrades at any position that are available right now on their roster.
If the Lions can build a sustained running attack next year, Goff will look much better. Until then, there’s not much to be done.
Yet another struggling team that needs to figure out that first you build the offensive line, and then you make decisions about a quarterback. It’s obviously not as simple as that, but some teams seem to make it way too complicated.
The fact the Lions lead the league in players on the IR certainly doesn’t help.
Ironically, Sunday is the anniversary of a great tragedy fans in Detroit were witness to. link to nypost.com
“The fact that the rebuilding Lions have dealt with significant O-line injuries and are lacking talent at the wide receiver position should also buy Goff a little bit of slack.”
This is WAY too much common sense for the modern-day NFL…
Jeopardy? Blaming any player in Detroit for the continual ineptitude is hilarious! As long as Granny Ford owns the team its Ground Hog Day! Rise and shine campers!!!!!
Goff is a $20.5M post June 1 2022 Dead Cap Hit, he’ll be with the team next year and likely cut after that unless he turns around performance significantly.
The Lions have over $33M of Cap Space on IR right now. Some of that could shift back to active roster if the player is eligible and is able to return.
They are in a bad spot for the balance of this year and next.
Vaitai will be cut next year and Flowers may go as well.