When you draft Jared Goff to a fantasy football roster, you know exactly what you're going to get. His production will rest entirely on his passing production, with only an occasionally vultured rushing touchdown or another random occurrence as a supplement.
Over his last five games, Goff is on as efficient a run as any quarterback in league history has ever had. Over that span (Week 3-Week 8, with a Week 5 bye in the mix), he is the QB8 in fantasy by points per game. Narrow to his last four games, Goff is QB5 in fantasy points per game.
Goff has been historically efficient lately, so he has not needed to pass the ball a lot to put up numbers. Over those last five games, his high for attempts is 25 (twice).
From a fantasy points perspective, Goff has topped 20 fantasy points (Yahoo! scoring) twice over his last five games, and even without a receiving touchdown in Week 4 he would have done so. But...
Related: Analyst offers perfectly bold fantasy outlook for Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs
Jared Goff is easily fantasy football bench material in Week 9
In Week 9 the Lions play their first outdoor game of the season on the road against the Green Bay Packers. The Packers enter the week as a top-10 fantasy defense against quarterbacks, and the weather report is calling for rain with double-digit MPH winds in Green Bay on Sunday.
Goff's career home-road splits are notable, with a nod to indoors/outdoors as Michael F. Florio of NFL.com noted in his recommendation to sit Goff in fantasy for Week 9 if possible.
"This one is a bit spicy. Goff has performed extremely well of late, and this isn’t about him playing on the road. This is about Goff playing outdoors for the first time this season. He has averaged around 13 fantasy PPG in outdoor games since joining the Lions in 2021. Since then, he has averaged over 18 fantasy PPG when playing indoors. But at Lambeau Field in that span, Goff has averaged 227 pass yards per game with three TDs and two INTs in those three contests. Plus, the Packers have allowed the eighth-fewest fantasy PPG to QBs. Goff is not a must-sit, but if you have another option you feel comfortable with, take it."
Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus also has Goff as a fantasy sit for Week 9, noting Goff not having more than 25 attempts in any of his last five games and the Packers allowing four touchdown passes in their last four games.
Trevor Lawrence needed a rushing touchdown in Week 8 to be the second quarterback to top 19 fantasy points against the Packers this season (Yahoo! scoring).
The Packers have had two key parts of their secondary, cornerback Jaire Alexander (knee) and safety Evan Williams (hamstring), miss practice on Wednesday and now Thursday this week. The possibility they miss Sunday's game is good news for Goff and the Lions' passing game.
But when it comes down to it, as long as the current weather report holds, the conditions at Lambeau Field on Sunday point strongly toward a run-heavy offensive gameplan for the Lions. Goff has done very well without a lot of passing volume recently, but Week 9 is another week where being a fantasy manager with him on a roster who doesn't have a better option could be a headache. To that end, Jamey Eisenberg of CBS Sports has Goff as a fantasy "start" for Week 9.
With only two teams on a bye in Week 9 and few notable injuries in play at quarterback, Goff should easily find his way to fantasy benches this week.