At this point we know what Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff is, and what he isn't, for better or worse when it comes to how some people see the team's ceiling with him under center. He won't be competing with Lamar Jackson in a foot race anytime soon, but when it comes to accuracy from a clean pocket, and all that goes into that, there aren't many quarterbacks in the NFL who are better.
Over the last four seasons, Goff has the most passing touchdowns (130) and passing yards (18,206) in the league. Over his five seasons as a Lion, he only trails Patrick Mahomes in passing yards and only Mahomes and Josh Allen have more passing touchdowns.
Goff's skill set should also age well, and allow him to play as long as he'd like to. With that in mind he likely has a lot of peak years left as he approaches his 32nd birthday in October, and head coach Dan Campbell remains bullish about his quarterback heading into the 2026 season.
"I think the biggest thing for Goff is, he's taken his game to such a level right now that I feel like he's in this man, he's up there", Campbell said. "And now what I feel is all right, here's my game. My game. His game's good. It's damn good. It's the mentality, the urgency, the leadership, the hey man, let's go, we cannot accept anything less than the best.
Jared Goff's best traits are in the upper class of NFL quarterbacks
ESPN's Dan Orlovsky has ranked the top-10 NFL quarterbacks in seven key traits: arm strength, ball placement, mechanics, decision-making, pocket presence, second-reaction creativity and rushing ability.
We can pretty easily guess which of those categories Goff ranked top-10 in.
In the ball placement category, which as Orlovsky noted is a little different that sheer accuracy, Goff comes in at No. 5 with a one-sentence summary from the former Lions' signal caller.
"Goff is sneaky good in this trait, and we see it at all levels of the field."
When it come to mechanics, Orlovsky has Goff as No. 4.
"Goff, Prescott and Stroud are such pure passers, with beautiful, natural motions."
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Decision making is another category Goff would presumably rank well in. He didn't make the top-10 for Orlovsky, but he apparently got close.
"It was another list that could have included Trevor Lawrence. I also entertained Jared Goff, who threw eight picks all last season."
Top-notch ball placement. Clean mechanics. Good decision making. Those would be the featured positives on any scouting report of Goff, so it's no surprise he ranks well in those categories compared to his peers.
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