I have very no confidence the Lions can get Jared Goff back on track. I think he’s a flawed quarterback, who needs everything around him to be right, and I don’t think he’ll get that in Detroit.
I’m not sure who the Lions will be trotting out at wide receiver. They’ll probably draft one in the first three rounds. Maybe they get some starts out of Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman. But I don’t know that they’ll have any difference-making kind of guys – the kind of receivers that turn 50-50 type throws into big plays.
The Lions are planning or hoping to run the ball, so I don’t think Goff will be throwing it all over the yard. (This is probably a good thing.)
And most notably, I think he needs to operate in a clean pocket. He’s not mobile enough to escape pressure, and he tends to get really bad when the heat gets turned up – more so than other quarterbacks.
That makes the move from LA to Detroit look like a poor one. With the Rams, they’ve allowed only 108 sacks since Sean McVay turned up – 3rd-fewest in the league. The Lions, on the other hand, have allowed more than 40 sacks in all of those seasons.
Count me out on Goff. The trade could still be a good thing. He gives them a quarterback to use for a year (maybe two) while they figured things out, and they’ve got those two first-round picks. But I don’t think he’ll play well enough where he’s ever even a consideration as a long-term guy.
SACKS ALLOWED (last 4 years) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Total |
New Orleans | 20 | 20 | 25 | 29 | 94 |
Pittsburgh | 24 | 24 | 32 | 14 | 94 |
LA Rams | 28 | 33 | 22 | 25 | 108 |
Kansas City | 37 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 112 |
Baltimore | 27 | 32 | 28 | 32 | 119 |
LA Chargers | 18 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 120 |
New England | 35 | 21 | 28 | 37 | 121 |
Indianapolis | 56 | 18 | 32 | 21 | 127 |
Las Vegas | 24 | 52 | 29 | 28 | 133 |
Minnesota | 27 | 40 | 28 | 39 | 134 |
Tampa Bay | 40 | 41 | 47 | 22 | 150 |
Chicago | 39 | 33 | 45 | 36 | 153 |
Buffalo | 47 | 41 | 40 | 27 | 155 |
Cleveland | 50 | 38 | 41 | 26 | 155 |
Dallas | 32 | 56 | 23 | 44 | 155 |
Atlanta | 24 | 42 | 50 | 41 | 157 |
Denver | 52 | 34 | 41 | 32 | 159 |
Carolina | 35 | 32 | 58 | 36 | 161 |
Green Bay | 51 | 53 | 36 | 21 | 161 |
Jacksonville | 24 | 53 | 42 | 44 | 163 |
Tennessee | 35 | 47 | 56 | 25 | 163 |
San Francisco | 43 | 48 | 36 | 39 | 166 |
Cincinnati | 40 | 37 | 48 | 48 | 173 |
Detroit | 47 | 41 | 43 | 42 | 173 |
NY Giants | 34 | 47 | 43 | 50 | 174 |
Miami | 33 | 52 | 58 | 34 | 177 |
Philadelphia | 36 | 40 | 37 | 65 | 178 |
NY Jets | 47 | 37 | 52 | 43 | 179 |
Arizona | 52 | 52 | 50 | 29 | 183 |
Washington | 41 | 44 | 50 | 50 | 185 |
Seattle | 43 | 51 | 48 | 48 | 190 |
Houston | 54 | 62 | 49 | 50 | 215 |
—Ian Allan