If this is Jared Goff's make-or-break year in Detroit – and maybe as a starting quarterback in the NFL – he's bent on making it count. Emboldened by a shiny set of weapons in an offense tailored to his talents, Goff is primed to make a statement in his second season with the Lions.
A statement, perhaps, that he’s here to stay.
“I do believe the confidence that he has going into this year has been a big difference," GM Brad Holmes said Thursday.
Goff, 27, looks like an entirely different quarterback compared to this time a year ago. He’s driving the ball downfield under new offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. He’s airing it out without fear, trusting receivers like D.J. Chark and Amon-Ra St. Brown to make plays. He’s standing tall behind the Lions’ loaded offensive line.
How this translates to the regular season remains to be seen, but Goff spent most of training camp dicing up the Lions defense – and didn’t miss a beat in his lone preseason drive against the Falcons.
“I’ve always felt that he was a confident kid, he’s always been a very mentally tough kid," said Holmes. "But us letting him know, ‘Look, we believe in you, we’re supporting you, we’re going to put you in the best position to succeed, you’re the quarterback,’ and surrounding him with a better supporting cast and giving him that ownership (of the offense), I think that has helped his confidence. And it showed in this camp.”
A lot of this owes to Johnson, who pored over film in the offseason of Goff's best years with the Rams to design an offense that would allow his talent to shine. He asked Goff what he liked and didn't like and took his opinion into account. There is a two-time Pro Bowler inside Goff. There is a quarterback who once led the NFL in yards per completion. It's Johnson's mission to bring it out of him.
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Holmes said Johnson, who was elevated to passing game coordinator midway through last season and officially named offensive coordinator by Dan Campbell this offseason, has “been everything that I would have expected."
“It’s been a great marriage between him and Goff,” said Holmes. “And you can see the results so far.”
So this is Goff’s chance. Holmes and the Lions knew they couldn’t assess him fairly last season when a lame-duck offensive coordinator was stripped of play-calling duties halfway through the year and Goff’s top receiving threat was a fourth-round rookie who didn’t really emerge until December. Now he has a deep cast of receivers that will only get deeper when 12th overall pick Jameson Williams makes his debut, a healthy offensive line and a running game that should open up the play-action pass. He has what he needs to succeed.
If he doesn’t, it will be time for the Lions to move on. While Goff has the fifth-highest cap hit in the NFL this season, the Lions can cut ties with him next year with dead cap hits of just $10 million in 2023 and $5 million in 2024.
“Jared knows that he has to go out there and prove it,” Holmes said last month. “He has to earn it. He has to perform better than he did last year. I’ve always said, I give Jared so much credit and respect for everything that he had to endure last season, but he knows what he has to do.”
Holmes believes in Goff because he's seen the quarterback at his best. He encouraged the Rams to draft him first overall in 2016, then watched him take the team to the Super Bowl two years later. He wants to build around him in Detroit. This is the season of judgement.
If Goff plays like he did in his first nine games last season – 6.3 yards per attempt, 84.0 passer rating – Holmes' decision will be easy. So it will if he plays like he did in his final five games – 7.1 yards per attempt, 107.1 passer rating. The decision ultimately belongs to Goff.
Can he bend it in his favor?