By: Ladarius Brown

In an NFL offseason full of storylines, one of the bigger ones was that of the trade between the Rams and Lions. The Lions moved on from arguably the best quarterback in franchise history in Matthew Stafford in exchange for Jared Goff. Both quarterbacks needed a change of scenery for varying reasons. For Stafford, it is about the chance to play for a Super Bowl contender. In the case of Jared Goff, it is about trying to start anew someplace else. Now that Goff is in the Motor City, what are the floor and his ceiling? Let us start with his floor. 

Floor: Jared Goff in 2016/Carson Wentz 

The Rams made the quarterback out of the University of California the number one overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He started seven games that year, losing all seven. Goff threw for 1,089 yards with a 54.6% completion percentage and five touchdowns to seven interceptions. A large part of his shortcomings in his rookie year fell upon the offense around him. In 2016, the Rams had the worst offense in the NFL. Also, the fact that Jeff Fisher was his head coach for the preponderance of that year did not exactly help matters either.  

In that same 2016 NFL Draft, another signal-caller was taken after Goff by the Eagles in Carson Wentz of North Dakota State. Wentz had a better rookie campaign than Goff based on passing yards and completion percentage. Wentz started all 16 games, throwing for 3,782 yards with a 62.4% completion percentage and 16 touchdowns to 14 interceptions in 2016.  

Even with his less than stellar rookie year, Goff’s career is comparable to Wentz’s based on the numbers. Having Wentz as the floor for Goff does not mean I think Wentz is terrible. The Wentz comparison for Goff is that Wentz can only get better, given his new surroundings. Goff is in the same situation.  

Ceiling: 2017-2018 Goff/Matt Ryan 

Given Goff’s floor, I love his ceiling because the Goff we saw in 2017 & 2018 were two of the best years of his six-year career. Combined in those two years, Goff had 8,492 passing yards (fifth-most), 60 touchdowns (tied for fourth), and averaged 273.9 passing yards a game (sixth-most). Also, he was tied with some quarterbacks named Drew Brees and Tom Brady for the most wins at 24 in 2017 & 2018. My point, this was peak Jared Goff, and it was amazing. He was also was the starting quarterback in the Super Bowl 2018. 

With this celling comes with a disclaimer since his production picked up once Sean McVay came to Los Angeles. I am banking on that on the high end, Goff can produce similar numbers for the Lions as he did for the Rams in those two years consistently. The disclaimer comes in is if he can without Sean McVay on the sidelines. I may not be sold on head coach Dan Campbell, but I am on the offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn.  

Lynn, a former offensive coordinator with the Bills and head coach of the Chargers, brings 20 years of coaching experience. In his four years as Chargers head coach, they were in the top 10 all four years. It helped to have quarterbacks in Philip Rivers and 2020 Rookie of the Year Justin Herbert, but it does not take away from Lynn’s coaching ability.  

As we travel back to college, Goff’s NFL comparison was Matt Ryan, and it turned out to be spot-on as both players are very accurate passers and excel in the pocket. Also, both Goff and Ryan are over 6’4” and have been to a Super Bowl, both on the losing end, and both came into the league under defensive head coaches. Looking at Ryan’s career, he was the league MVP in 2016, Goff’s rookie year. Ryan is still playing at a high-level entering year 14 and Goff could be the next Ryan. If Goff can take advantage of his new opportunity in Detroit, his career will bounce back.  

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By: Chris Thomas

After the third disappointing season in a row under head coach Matt Patricia’s administration, the Detroit Lions have blown up their organization. They started their offseason by hiring Los Angeles Rams Director of Scouting Brad Holmes as their new general manager. Then Detroit made an unorthodox hire at head coach in former Miami Dolphins interim head coach and New Orleans Saints tight end coach Dan Campbell. But the largest change to the Lions that occurred this offseason happened at the quarterback position. The Lions executed a blockbuster trading 12 year starter Matthew Stafford to the Rams for 2016 1st overall pick Jared Goff, a 2022 first round pick, and a 2023 first-round pick. This gave Detroit the ammunition they need to complete what appears to be a long-term rebuild.

Expectations are not super high for Lions in 2022 since they have made it clear they are trying to build their roster towards the future, but after a fantastic draft adding some great foundational pieces the Lions may be able to shock some teams an win some close games down the stretch. The key for the Lions season in 2021-22 is running back D’Andre Swift.

Last offseason the Lions selected Georgia running back D’Andre Swift with the 35th pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. Many viewed Swift to be the top running back of the class, but he fell to the second round and was the second running back taken that year. When Swift got on the field he showed why he was RB1 on many peoples draft boards. During the 13 games he played during the 2020-21 season, Swift had 114 rushing attempts for 521 yards and eight touchdowns. He also had 46 catches for 357 yards and two more touchdowns. Those numbers may not look fantastic, but when Swift got double digit carries during a game he averaged 71.2 yards rushing yards per game which would have been good for tenth in the NFL a season ago between David Montgomery and Josh Jacobs.

Head Coach Dan Campbell has already publicly said that he and the teams coaching staff has a lot of confidence building their offense around Swift. He also said he could have the potential of receiving “25 carries per game”.

There have been multiple context clues that the Lion’s have shown through other transactions this offseason that have shown that Swift could be the focal point of not only their offense, but their entire team. For starters they added both Anthony Lynn and Duce Staley to their coaching staff. Both are are former NFL running backs who have prioritized running backs during their coaching career.

New Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn has gotten great production out of the running backs he has coached over the years. During his time in Buffalo as the Assistant coach and running backs coach he got three Pro Bowl seasons out of LeSean McCoy. When he was the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers he got two outstanding statistical seasons out of Melvin Gordon and developed Austin Ekeler from undrafted free agent to a dangerous NFL starting running back.

Duce Staley has become one of the most respected running back coaches in the NFL. He returns to that role in Detroit and is also the Assistant Head Coach. He has gotten the opportunity to work with some great veteran backs in Philadelphia including LeSean McCoy, Darren Sproles, DeMarco Murray, Ryan Matthews, LeGarrette Blount, Jay Ajayi, Jordan Howard, Miles Sanders, and many more.

The trade for Jared Goff also is a sign that the passing game may take a backseat this next season. Despite being a two time Pro Bowler, Goff has been more of a distributor than playmaker over his career. He only plays at his best when he has great pieces around him, including a dominant running game. His past two seasons in Los Angeles where the running game was not headline the Rams offense got the organization thinking that he may not be the teams long term answer at the position, especially since they are in win-now mode. Goff is a perfect quarterback for the Lions because he is a 26 year old former first overall pick who has shown potential to play at a high level, but can be easily moved off of after this season.

Detroit’s draft and free agent transactions were also very telling on what they prioritized offensively. During free agency Detroit shockingly let former Pro Bowl wide receiver Kenny Golladay and their leading receiver from the season prior Marvin Jones Jr. hit the market and sign with other teams. The Lions replaced them with veteran receivers Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman who are veterans who can stretch the field but may be more equipped to be a teams third option in the passing game. Instead they chose to extend former first round pick offensive lineman left tackle Taylor Decker and center Frank Ragnow. During the draft Detroit elected to take Oregon tackle Penei Sewell with the seventh overall pick over Heisman winner Alabama wide receiver Devonta Smith. The Lions didn’t take a wide receiver until they took Amon-Ra St.Brown in the fourth round. St. Brown has the upside to be a very solid wide receiver at the next level, but was not looked at a potential primary target in an NFL passing game.

By prioritizing the offensive line over pass catchers throughout the offseason it shows that they want to give running back D’Andre Swift every opportunity to not only succeed but to make an impact on every play. Nothing shows more of a “bite your kneecap off” mentality on offense than a strong running game. It is expected that Swift is the focal point of the Lions offense and the entire team because by if Swift can control the clock late in games it will help the Lions young defense stay off the field and keep opposing teams from scoring on them.

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