Lions must draft competition for Jared Goff ASAP

Good examples for the Detroit Lions

As stated previously, the Detroit Lions, in our opinion, have a middle-of-the-pack starter, who was a first-overall pick and isn’t going anywhere for two years. That gives Holmes a window to find at least one more option to be the future of the franchise. The two extra first-round picks Holmes got from trading Matthew Stafford also gives them the draft capital to take what some would see as a luxury pick on a signal-caller.

Draft history gives us some examples of teams backing themselves up at the right time when they already had someone. The 2021 Draft saw three teams draft a quarterback in Round 1 that will not be the Day 1 starter. Only the Jacksonville Jaguars expect Trevor Lawrence to start immediately but also have a former starter, Gardner Minshew, as the fail-safe.

Most prominent in recent memory, Patrick Mahomes was taken in Round 1 when the Kansas City Chiefs had Alex Smith, who was playing very well. Mahomes sat for a year before being promoted.

Less recently, the Green Bay Packers took Aaron Rodgers when they had Brett Favre as their starter. Tom Brady was selected when the New England Patriots had Drew Bledsoe. Neither played as rookies, with Brady not playing for his first two years while he learned and developed.

Of course, the Packers did it again last year, selecting Jordan Love in the first round with Rodgers as the veteran but Rodgers’ feathers got ruffled and it has resulted in some discord between he and his team. If Love has to start, he’s had a year to learn his system and acclimate to the NFL before being asked to start.

Drafting a quarterback that has to be immediately thrown into the starting job is what the Detroit Lions have always done and it’s a big part of why they’ve gotten the results that they have. You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results, that’s the ol’ definition of insanity that the Detroit Lions seem to never pay attention to.

Onto the nerdy stuff…