Is Jared Goff’s backup even on the Lions roster?
By Robert Jones
Upgrading the quality of depth
This has been the tale for far too long. When Matthew Stafford was here, management never brought in a quarterback good enough to challenge him.
That doesn’t mean the Lions needed to have someone to win the job away from Matthew because the problems this team had were far beyond him. However, just think about 2019 when the Lions were 3-4-1 after a loss to the Oakland Raiders and Stafford was lost for the remainder of the season due to a back injury.
The combination of Jeff Driskel and David Blough did little overall to impress the fan base and together they went down with the ship as the Lions finished out the season losing their last eight games.
Now as far as the 2021 season goes, there are some fans who are hoping the Lions will bomb big time, get the first overall pick and select their quarterback of the future. In a scenario like that, it would seem to be to the advantage of that plan to have either Boyle or Blough at the helm if Goff got injured.
I have had my doubts about whether Dan Campbell and his staff will be able to resurrect Goff’s career and would not be against the Lions drafting their quarterback of the future next spring if the wheels come off the wagon this season.
That being said, I am not against upgrading the quality of the depth at the position this season if possible.
Bear in mind that the defense still has much improvement to make before they are ready to contribute to a winning season. I think this group has the capability of competing, but much like last week against the Bills, I’m not sure how often they will be able to close the door on opponents.
The receiving corps has plenty of questions still to be answered and while the rushing attack should become the strength of the offense, if the passing game sputters, then the offense will struggle.
So if the Lions can find an upgrade to plug in behind Jared Goff, I don’t think it would radically change the course of this season, but it would be another step towards rebuilding this roster.