Jared Goff, the quarterback for the Detroit Lions, will always have his detractors. That won’t alter even if he signs a big new contract; in fact, it might make those critics stronger if and when he struggles.
Regardless of the stats he puts up, the quarterbacks rankings around the league, fantasy or otherwise, will probably never be too nice to him. A brand-new list of NFL starting quarterbacks for the 2024 campaign has been released by Pro Football Focus. At the top, Patrick Mahomes is in a league of his own, and everyone else follows. When compared to some of his colleagues, Goff is immediately ranked lower based only on talent. Goff is ranked in “Tier 4”, which is a significant tier that is situated just outside the top-10.
When under pressure, quarterbacks tend to perform less well than when they are kept clean in the pocket. Furthermore, Goff is still among the league’s top quarterbacks when it comes to blocking blitzes.
Bryan Knowles of FTN Fantasy readily singled out Goff in a recent article regarding quarterbacks under pressure during the previous season after learning of the contract.
There is abundant data to support the notion that Goff becomes nearly unplayable under duress and becomes elite when he has a clean pocket. This is not a novel theory. It is uncommon for there to be such a sharp decline, though. Knowles also pointed out that Goff’s victory against the blitz in the previous season was actually achieved against inefficient blitzes that failed to get to the target.
That may be attributed to both his own awareness and cunning in getting the ball out of his hands fast and, of course, the fact that he was shielded by the best offensive line in the league.
According to FTN’s charting data, when under pressure, Goff finished the season with the eighth-most throwing yards (749) in the league. However, he also threw seven interceptions under pressure, second only to Sam Howell’s 14 interceptions. In addition, Howell was sacked 65 times in the previous season compared to Goff’s 30. By now, it is quite clear what Goff is and isn’t in the quarterback position. Although PFF’s ranking of him as the 16th quarterback seems extremely low, they have a good reason to generally knock him down, supported by evidence.
