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Two years after taking his contract to help facilitate the Matthew Stafford trade, the Detroit Lions are ready to go all-in on their future with Jared Goff.
At least that’s the strong impression Lions coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes gave after Goff capped the self-proclaimed best season of his career by leading the Lions to a 20-16 victory over the New York Packers. Green Bay which gave the franchise its first winning record in five seasons.
Campbell called Goff “a perfect fit for what we’re doing and what we’re asking for” and called him “our quarterback” in recent days, and Holmes said at his season-ending press conference. Tuesday: “I don’t really know what decision to make regarding Goff’s future.
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“I never really thought of it as a bridge,” Holmes said. “I think everyone has. I think there’s a bit of a recency bias to what he had to go through last year.
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Kicked out of Los Angeles by Rams coach Sean McVay, Goff, the first pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, struggled in his first season in Detroit as the Lions struggled with injuries on their offensive line and to positions of competence.
He led the Lions to wins in three of his last four starts last season, after a change in offensive play callers, and captained the fifth-highest offense in the NFL this year.
Goff, 28, finished the season with a 99.3 passer rating, his highest since helping the Rams reach the Super Bowl in 2018, and threw for 29 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He finished the year on a streak of 324 consecutive pass attempts with no picks.
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“I always had faith in him because I’ve been with him from the start since he got drafted when I was with LA,” said Holmes, the Rams’ former college scouting director. “I just know how resilient and tough he is mentally, and I think a lot of it was me knowing all the success he was having in LA. I think that was kind of forgotten when he got here and I think he was put in a very difficult situation. I don’t mean, I don’t know how many quarterbacks in that situation that he was in last year (would thrive), but we had a lot of injuries, man, and we didn’t really have the guns around him. “
When asked if he could say unequivocally that Goff was the Lions quarterback of the future, Holmes said, “I think it’s a lot easier to get worse at quarterback than it is to get worse at quarterback. improve at quarterback, in this league.
“And so I think what Jared did this year, he led the ship from a top-three offense and I mean he was statistically top-10 in most passing categories,” said said Holmes. “And again, you know how we approach the draft, like we’re never going to turn down a good football player. So if there’s a football player that we really like, we’re going to make sure that every stone didn’t come back, but I think Jared has proven to everyone that he’s the starting quarterback for us.
The Lions, with two first-round picks in the April draft, have long been seen as a team that would consider a quarterback with one of their top picks.
Three quarterbacks could make the top 10 in the draft with Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s CJ Stroud and Kentucky’s Will Levis, and Florida’s Anthony Richardson is considered a potential first-round pick.
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The Lions have Stafford’s sixth first-round trade pick, and their own first-round pick, No. 18 overall.
Holmes said there’s merit in drafting a quarterback and letting him sit and grow for a year or more, and pointed to Patrick Mahomes (who served a season before taking over as as Kansas City Chiefs quarterback) and Aaron Rodgers (a four-time MVP who spent his first three seasons with the Green Bay Packers) as successes with this approach.
But the Lions seem more determined to improve their defense at No. 32 this offseason and continue to surround Goff with the weapons he needs to build on his strong season.
Goff said Monday he felt “great” to be appreciated because “I’ve been the other side of the coin,” and he repeatedly called Detroit a “special place” and this year’s season ” special”.
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“I loved my time here and I love Dan and I love the players and the coaches, I can’t speak better about this group and these coaches,” he said. “I love leading this team. I love being part of it. I love playing for Dan, I love playing for Brad, I love playing for (owner) Sheila (Hamp). It’s such a special band and a special place and Ford Field, it’s all there.
Campbell said Monday that Goff was “one of the main reasons” the Lions turned their season around after a 1-6 start, and it seems clear the organization is determined to see how far Goff can go. the future.
“He really suits us,” Campbell said. “We want to manage the football, play the action and when you do those things you need a quarterback who can put you in the right game and is very good at accuracy. Throw the football, make decisions, and he does the trick for it all. I mean, it’s been a hell of a year for him.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
