Jared Goff has long been a lightly regarded quarterback. The Rams gave up some quality draft picks primarily to dump his contract on the Lions a couple of years ago. He won't attract much interest in fantasy drafts, either. But perhaps he should.
At least one of his teammates believes the veteran is really underrated, calling him a top-5 quarterback in the NFC.
"Jared Goff’s up there," says cornerback Jerry Jacobs. "Everybody sleeps on my dog and I love how he takes it in like he doesn’t be cocky or anything like that. He’s a great quarterback and I can’t wait for him to you know, go out and prove everybody wrong.”
Jacobs is talking about NFL performance rather than fantasy, and he does have a point. Goff went to the Pro Bowl for the third time last year, leading the Lions to within a game of the postseason. Detroit is a legitimate favorite in the NFC North this season.
But Goff looks pretty underrated in fantasy terms, as well. He doesn't run, which will always hurt him, but he's been better than you might think even without contributing with his legs.
Goff last year was the 9th-best fantasy quarterback (1 point for every 20 passing and 10 rushing yards, 4-point TD passes). It was his third top-10 finish in six seasons; he was also 13th one year. Being available and putting up solid numbers from the pocket counts for a lot.
Table shows Goff's stats and fantasy performance among quarterbacks in each of his six full seasons as a starter, sorted by fantasy finish. He put up lesser numbers in his last season with the Rams and first with the Lions, but had his 2nd-best season a year ago, and that was with Jamaal Williams leading the NFL in rushing touchdowns. A few more touchdowns could reasonably come via the pass this year, and (post-suspension) Jameson Williams should be around to help out a little more.
I think Goff makes a lot of sense for those who decide to wait on the quarterback position in drafts.
| JARED GOFF, YEAR BY YEAR | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Pass | PaTD | Int | Run | RuTD | FF | Rk |
| 2018 | Rams | 4688 | 32 | 12 | 108 | 2 | 397.2 | 6 |
| 2022 | Lions | 4438 | 29 | 7 | 73 | 0 | 350.7 | 9 |
| 2019 | Rams | 4638 | 22 | 16 | 40 | 2 | 335.9 | 11 |
| 2017 | Rams | 3804 | 28 | 7 | 51 | 1 | 313.3 | 13 |
| 2020 | Rams | 3952 | 20 | 13 | 99 | 4 | 313.5 | 16 |
| 2021 | Lions | 3245 | 19 | 8 | 87 | 0 | 255.0 | 23 |
--Andy Richardson