Lions quarterback Jared Goff was among leaders in surprising bad stat in 2023

By any measure you can find, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff had a very nice season in 2023. He was top-10 in the league in passing yards (4,575; second), passing touchdowns (30; fourth), completion percentage (67.3 percent; seventh), passer rating (97.9; ninth) and plenty of other metrics (yards per attempt, adjusted yards per attempt, passing yards per game).

Goff even had a top-10 grade from Pro Football Focus last year (85.7 overall; 10th-85.2 passing grade; 6th). He was also top-notch in plenty of other deeper metrics (h/t to Player Profiler and Sports Info Solutions).

We know where Goff struggles. He's routinely among the worst quarterbacks in the league when pressured, rooted in the idea he's a strict pocket passer and his 10-yard split in a 40-yard dash can probably be best-timed by a sundial. But when able to operate in rhythm from a clean pocket, there aren't many quarterbacks in the league who are better when he's really rolling. He's got weapons around him, and a play caller (Ben Johnson) he's in synch with

Jared Goff among leaders in surprising negative stat from last season

Drops by a pass catcher are a very subjective stat, often different depending on the source. We have data, also pretty subjective and dependent on the source, that can tell us about throws that were on or off-target, catchable or uncatchable. By those type of measures (catchable passes, true completion percentage, adjusted completion percentage, etc.) Goff also ranked well last season.

According to Legit Football, Goff was No. 3 among quarterbacks (where higher is of course worse) for the most dropped passes in the league last season.

Pro Football Focus charted 32 dropped passes for Goff last season, with the subjective caveat there being their criteria for what they consider to be an on-target throw. Player Profiler had 27 dropped passes for Goff last year, also third in the league.

As evidence of the difference in drops depending on the source, PFF credited Amon-Ra St. Brown with just four drops on 158 targets last season. Pro Football Reference credited him with eight drops (164 targets).

Still, no matter the source, Lions' receivers dropped a fair amount of passes for Goff last season. And Josh Reynolds was no more a culprit than anyone else (four drops during the regular season, according to PFR; five drops via PFF).