The Lions are a wake-up call for Jared Goff
What Jared Goff thinks of himself and what Lions fans think of him seem to be two different things. While Goff sees himself as a capable field general who can lead Detroit to the Super Bowl, most of the fans see him as a stopgap on the way to their next franchise quarterback.
When the Rams used the number one overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft to select Jared Goff, they expected him to be the quarterback who would lift them out of mediocrity and take them to the Super Bowl.
In a way, they were right as Goff was a big contributor to the Rams run to Super Bowl LIII.
Yet Goff didn’t carry the Rams on his shoulders and when his rushing attack struggled like it did the last couple of seasons, so did Goff.
Now for the first time in his life, Goff is about to open a season with a non-Californian team. He was a Golden State hero from grade school to high school to college then the Rams.
When Sean McVay and the Rams decided to cut ties with Goff and targeted Matthew Stafford as their answer to their quarterback prayers, that was the first time Goff had been doubted. Yet to be fair, Jared did struggle the last two years with turnovers, and in a league where turnovers have often been the difference between the winners and losers, the idea of change was not a new one.
One way or another Jared Goff has a new lease on life. He is no longer the California hometown hero. He has been transplanted to the Motor City. He is now in a different world than he grew up in and is fortunate to have the backing of Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell.
From the offseason workouts to training camp, we have heard about how crisp and accurate Goff has been. Some have said this has been a wake-up call for Goff and it has renewed his focus. The truth is that it should be a wake-up call because if he fails, he will be in for another rude awakening.