Jared Goff has spent most of his career living outside the NFL’s top-tier quarterback talk. Even after the early recognition he earned with the Los Angeles Rams, the conversation around him changed fast once he was shipped to the Detroit Lions in the deal that brought Matthew Stafford to Los Angeles. Since then, Goff has usually been slotted somewhere below the league’s elite - second tier, third tier, maybe even fourth.
That perception has been harder to hold onto lately.
Over the last six years, Goff has played a central role in the Lions’ rise back into contender status, and that has slowly chipped away at the skepticism around him. Some people still tried to give most of the credit to former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, but even NFL executives and coaches have started to view Goff as a top-10 quarterback in recent years.
What he’s doing now is pushing the conversation even higher.
Through this stretch, Goff leads the NFL with a 112.5 passer rating. He is also first in passing yards per game and adjusted yards gained per attempt.
And perhaps the cleanest stat of all: he’s the only quarterback with more than 120 passing attempts this season who has not thrown an interception. His plus-14 touchdown-to-interception ratio is already two better than the next closest quarterback, Joe Burrow, who has 15 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
That surge has come with a wave of national praise after Goff dismantled an impressive Green Bay Packers defense last week. For the first time in a while, he’s getting attention that feels bigger than the usual weekly quarterback chatter.
CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell ranked Goff No. 1 in his latest quarterback power rankings.
“His 14 touchdowns without an interception are also tied for the most in NFL history in that span, along with Russell Wilson in the 2019 season,” Podell wrote. “Fresh off winning his duel with Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers at the last second, Goff also ranks second in expected points added (EPA) per dropback (0.29), just one one-hundredth behind Josh Allen (0.30). However, Goff has been the much better passer this season, which gets him the nod for the top spot entering Week 8.”
Mark Schlereth went even further on the OG Football Show, making the case that Goff belongs firmly inside the top five at the position.
“We get so enamored with guys’ ability to scramble and make plays and be off-schedule and scramble around and make a big throw down the middle. Jared Goff processes and he delivers. He is so deadly accurate,” Schlereth said.
Jon Gruden also spent time before the Packers game breaking down the numbers behind what Goff has accomplished before turning 32 earlier this month.
On ESPN’s “Get Up,” the discussion around Goff’s play even reached MVP level. Rex Ryan led the conversation, and Dan Orlovsky, Domonique Foxworth, Ryan, and Adam Schefter all joined in.
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Lions Fans Will Be Watching One Thing Closely In Vikings Showdown
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What may matter most this week is the way his crew has handled games so far this season. Wrolstads group has drawn attention for how often it reaches for the flag, and that kind of whistle-heavy profile can shape the flow of a divisional matchup in a hurry, especially in a game where every snap tends to carry a little extra weight. [Read more 🡒]