The Detroit Lions can win with Jared Goff despite limitations
By Bob Heyrman
The Detroit Lions can win with Jared Goff despite his limitations if general manager Brad Holmes builds around him the right way.
Goff was atrocious over the first 12 weeks of the 2021 season; there is no sugarcoating it. Down the backstretch of the season, though, Goff elevated his game and found a way to win games against quality opponents despite all of the Lions’ injuries.
The Detroit Lions beat the high-flying Arizona Cardinals in a game Arizona needed to win to help their postseason positioning. Despite only winning three games, the Detroit Lions showed a lot of fight over the course of the year, and let’s face the facts; this had been a very undermanned roster top to bottom with the exception of their offensive line.
Even their offensive line sustained impactful injuries, and that unit wasn’t able to play a game with all five starters healthy at once.
The Lions expected to start the season with the often injured Tyrell Williams as their top outside receiver, plus took a flier on veteran Breshard Perriman to be the number two option. Detroit also hoped to see positive results from second-year pass-catcher Quintez Cephus with hopes of Amon-Ra St. Brown finding his way as a rookie.
Perriman didn’t make the final cut, Williams sustained a season-ending concussion in Week One, and Cephus appeared in just five games due to injury. The good news, this opened the door for rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown to emerge as the teams’ top option.
Detroit also saw positive production in the passing game from return specialist Kalif Raymond. Due to injuries, the receiver-starved Lions were able to provide Goff with a familiar face in Josh Reynolds, who they claimed off waivers from the Tennessee Titans.
The Detroit Lions should build around Jared Goff.
No one will look at Goff and say, that’s a franchise quarterback, but there is reason to believe we can look at the 27-year old signal-caller and say, ‘that’s a guy we can win with if we provide him with the right weapons.’