The Detroit Lions proved their commitment to Jared Goff, by not selecting a quarterback in the draft. But was that by design?
Fans of the Honolulu Blue and Silver have been pretty happy with Brad Holmes’ debut as the man running the Lions draft room. He stepped in and has bolstered the offensive and defensive lines. It’s the groundwork of a championship contender.
Teams that win in the trenches are usually pretty good at running the football and playing solid defense. The battle for the line of scrimmage is not only a war for an important piece of sports real estate but it’s also about controlling the game.
Let’s just say that it appears the Detroit Lions have more capability of controlling the line of scrimmage today than they did before the draft. Brad Holmes did what the Carolina Panthers did last year; concentrate on an area of need.
Now full disclosure is that the Panthers’ whole draft last year was defense. However, it showed the type of progress that Lions fans everywhere would envy.
Meanwhile, Brad Holmes went to the trenches with three straight selections to add an immensely talented offensive lineman and fortify the defensive line. Four out of their seven draft picks were used to start the defensive upgrade. It should not be lost on Lions fans that Holmes got a talented prospect to plug in at linebacker as well, which helps solidify the defensive front seven overall.
Finding a way to improve the defense to just average would be a huge win for Holmes and new head coach Dan Campbell. Defense wins championships, even in this age of high-tech offenses and rules that make playing defense very difficult.
There is still work to be done before the defense will be ready to vie for a championship. And that’s alright because there is still work to be done on the offense before it will be ready to strafe defenses with any kind of prolific success.
One of the biggest questions surrounding the offense is quarterback Jared Goff. Everyone seems to be convinced that he is nothing more than a placeholder. Yet Brad Holmes passed on highly regarded Ohio State passer, Justin Fields. Does this mean that Goff is the Lions quarterback of the future?
A vote of confidence for Jared Goff?
For 12 seasons Matthew Stafford was Detroit’s most polarizing athlete. Many fans supported him, while others believed he was the root of all the Lions’ problems.
In truth, when Matthew played well the Lions had a chance to win. In games he struggled then victory was almost assuredly out of reach.
Matthew Stafford was the straw that stirred the drink. In essence, every week he had to either carry the Lions to victory, with little to no help, especially on defense, or Detroit would lose. It was really that simple.
This did create additional criticism from some but considering that the whole Detroit Lions franchise was built on that very premise that it’s all on Matthew’s shoulders, then he was set up for failure week after week, year after year.
What Matthew accomplished in Detroit under the circumstances he was given was actually pretty impressive when we consider how little the franchise did to build a complete team that could actually compete for titles.
Now as we turn the page Jared Goff is stepping up to center stage and with Stafford gone, Goff may now be the most polarizing athlete in the Motor City. Luckily Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell have a different philosophy. One that believes in building both sides of the ball and having special teams that can be special.
It won’t happen overnight but the Lions have a pretty good start. Holmes and Campbell have a vision that is sharply focused on two years down the road. This is how they quantify their building process. Should they attain the championship-contending status they hope for, it will be useful in maximizing that window.
However, two years down the road isn’t a long way in the NFL. So that means as they build their contender they will want to make sure they have their quarterback of the future on the roster to lead them in the championship chase.
As the debate goes, is it Jarred Goff or someone else? This past week Goff said that it was a vote of confidence that Holmes chose to build on the offensive line by selecting a phenomenal talent rather than scooping up a passer.
In a way, it was a vote of confidence. However, maybe not as much as Goff would like to think.
Having Goff created possibilities
Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell were very excited when they pulled off the Matthew Stafford trade. Not only because of the draft capital they received, two of which are future first-round picks but getting Jared Goff as part of the deal was also very exciting.
Yet there was a reason. Sure Brad Holmes was a part of the Los Angeles Rams contingency that traded up for the first pick in the 2016 draft to get Goff and is very familiar with his work and the success he’s had. But I think the possibilities had Holmes excited.
I’m sure Holmes is very curious to see if Goff can turn around his down-trending production from the last two seasons, but being charged with the responsibility of rebuilding this franchise, and having found out when he was hired that Matthew would no longer be a Lion due to his wishes to be traded, it brought to prominence the fact that Detroit would need a new long-term solution at the position.
I’m sure Holmes expected he would have to suffer through the growing pains of a young passer being tossed to NFL defenses before they were ready. A move that could also destroy the young passers confidence.
So getting Goff has opened up possibilities. The Lions didn’t have to select a quarterback this year if they didn’t have one available they wanted. They can always do so next year and with Goff’s contract, they will have him around as a more than reasonable bridge to allow the youngster to learn before getting on the field.
This is all stuff we’ve talked and theorized about, nothing really new about it. Except that this past week we seem to have gotten verification that Holmes is still looking for the quarterback of the future, despite having Goff.
This past week on Woodward Sports David Birkett of the Detroit Free Press did say that he spoke to Brad Holmes after the draft and Holmes admitted that if the right quarterback had been available the Lions would have drafted him.
So while Goff will certainly have this coming season to prove his worth, it sounds like Brad Holmes’ vision of two years down the road will include having the quarterback of his choosing on the roster, and most likely that will be the Lions signal-caller of the future.
Jared Goff has won in the NFL and gives the Lions a quality starter for the time being. But it certainly sounds like he could have some serious competition for the Lions’ quarterback position by next season. If Goff wants to continue to be the top passer in Detroit beyond next year, then he better turn around his game and find a way to win in a hurry.