Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff has almost never been in the top-five quarterback conversation for his entire career. He got some accolades early during his time with the Los Angeles Rams, but ever since he was traded to the Detroit Lions for what the Rams deemed an upgrade in Matthew Stafford, Goff has been commonly viewed as a second, third or even fourth-tier quarterback.
However, his work in rebuilding the Detroit Lions into a contender over the past six years has started to turn some doubters
into believers. Some still pushed back, giving people like former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson most of the credit. But even NFL executives and coaches have started to consider Goff a top-10 quarterback in recent years.
Still, he’s rarely mentioned among the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Stafford.
But there’s something in the air this week.
Goff currently leads the NFL with a 112.5 passer rating. He’s also first in passing yards per game, and adjusted yards gained per attempt. And perhaps most distinguishingly, Goff is the only quarterback with over 120 passing attempts this year who has yet to throw an interception. His +14 touchdown-to-interception ratio is two ahead of the next-closest quarterback (Burrow: 15 TDs, 3 INTs).
And so after dismantling an impressive Green Bay Packers defense last week, Goff is getting a ton of national attention that I can’t ever recall seeing in year’s past.
Over on CBS Sports, Garrett Podell put Goff as the No. 1 quarterback in his weekly QB 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.”
Former NFL offensive lineman Mark Schlereth made an impassioned argument that Goff is unequivocally a top-five quarterback in this league on the OG Football Show:
“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.
Elsewhere, former NFL coach Jon Gruden—prior to the Packers game—went through a ton of mind-blowing statistics on what Goff has accomplished before he turned 32 earlier this month:
Over on ESPN, the morning show “Get Up” had an entire discussion on why Jared Goff is currently playing at an MVP level, led by former NFL coach Rex Ryan. Skip to the nine-minute mark in the video below, where Dan Orlovsky, Domonique Foxworth, Ryan, and even Adam Schefter get in on the conversation.
Finally, former NFL safety Ryan Clark called Goff’s performance “All-Pro level of play,” and also used the words MVP. He broke down what makes him particularly special:
Goff will have his biggest test of the season this week against the Minnesota Vikings’ top-ranked defense in the NFL. If he balls out again, you better believe his MVP odds, which are currently still just eighth in the NFL (+3000), will likely get much shorter.
