Brad Holmes wants to clear something up. He doesn't back Jared Goff "just because I was a part of drafting him in LA." Holmes says he hears that often: "Well he drafted him, so that's why he loves him." The Lions GM believes in the Lions starting quarterback because he watched Goff succeed in LA, for several years in a row.
"His first season as a full-time starter in 2017, he went to the playoffs. Second season as a full-time starter in 2018, went to the Super Bowl. Third season as a full-time starter, didn't make the playoffs, fourth season as a full-time starter, made the playoffs," Holmes said Thursday on 97.1 The Ticket. "So three out of those four years (I had with him), he was a postseason quarterback. That's what I saw to have confidence."
And that's what he was thinking about during talks with the Rams before the Matthew Stafford trade when Holmes told Rams GM and his mentor Les Snead, "Yes, I want Jared as part of the trade."
"And that meant something to me," said Holmes.
Goff was a Pro Bowler his first two years as the Rams' starter, proving himself to be a top-10 quarterback in the NFL. He just proved it again in his second season with the Lions. His first year in Detroit was marred by a shortage of receivers, an injured offensive line, an offensive coordinator who basically lost his job halfway though the season and, yes, Goff's own poor play.
"Like I've said in the past, a lot of what he did in '17, '18 and '20, I think that was forgotten about," said Holmes. "It was all about the recency bias of what he went through last year. So there's a little bit of, 'Oh wow, he's good now.' Well, no, he's actually been good. He just had to go through a little adversity and I appreciate the way that he battled back. Again, it's not a surprise to me, but I am just happy of the way he produced."
Goff has also proven this over the course of his career: he rarely gets hurt. While he missed three games last season due to knee/oblique injuries and COVID-19, he missed just two games total over his final four seasons with the Rams and played all 17 games this season with the Lions. He's also tough, coming off the bench with a busted thumb to win a playoff game in Seattle in his last season in LA.
"The one thing that I think gets overlooked sometimes is his durability," said Holmes. "When you have a guy that you can depend on and he's durable and he's always going to be there, and then he's taking care of the football the way that he (did this season), it's going to set your team up for success all the time."
[shortcode-inline-related expand="1" link="/971theticket/sports/detroit-lions/brad-holmes-detroit-lions-committed-to-jared-goff" headline="Holmes, Lions committed to Goff: "He is the starting quarterback for us"" image="/media-library/image.jpg?id=63592575"]At the same time, Holmes knows the Lions have to solidify Goff's backup. QB2 has been a blind spot for the team since Holmes arrived. They rolled with Tim Boyle and David Blough last season, then re-signed Boyle this season only to cut him in training camp and replace him with veteran Nate Sudfeld.
"Going into this past year, yeah, we went down to the umpteenth hour trying to figure out what we were going to do at No. 2," said Holmes. "And I've let it be known internally that we're not going to be in that position again going into this year. We have to get that settled.
"I thought Nate Sudfeld did a nice job with us, so we'll figure that out, but I am going to make it a point of emphasis. Being that we're finally in a position to address that quarterback room behind Jared, that is going to be a point of emphasis this year."
Ideally, Goff will stay healthy and the Lions will keep winning. Holmes has a starter he trusts. But if things go awry, he wants to have similar faith in No. 2.
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