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)
Team17181920Total
New Orleans2020252994
Pittsburgh2424321494
LA Rams28332225108
Kansas City37262524112
Baltimore27322832119
LA Chargers18343434120
New England35212837121
Indianapolis56183221127
Las Vegas24522928133
Minnesota27402839134
Tampa Bay40414722150
Chicago39334536153
Buffalo47414027155
Cleveland50384126155
Dallas32562344155
Atlanta24425041157
Denver52344132159
Carolina35325836161
Green Bay51533621161
Jacksonville24534244163
Tennessee35475625163
San Francisco43483639166
Cincinnati40374848173
Detroit47414342173
NY Giants34474350174
Miami33525834177
Philadelphia36403765178
NY Jets47375243179
Arizona52525029183
Washington41445050185
Seattle43514848190
Houston54624950215

—Ian Allan