As the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, expectations were understandably high for Jared Goff. The Cal product established himself as a star in his final college season, throwing just shy of 4,700 yards with a 64.5% completion rate, all while averaging 8.9 yards per attempt. He also had 43 touchdowns compared to 13 interceptions. His rookie year with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams was tough, as he only played in the last seven games of the season, all Rams losses, over which he averaged a 63.6 passer rating and a thoroughly pedestrian 54.6% completion rate. But in 2017, first-year head coach Sean McVay turned Goff around. He had a 100.5 rating that season, all while throwing 28 touchdowns and running for another, against just 7 interceptions. Also, he, you know, won a game, as the Rams finished 11-5 and lost in the wild card round.
2018 saw him do even better, throwing for 4,688 passing yards, which remains his career best. He also had 34 total touchdowns, including 32 over the air. However, he also led the league in fumbles with 12, five of which resulted in turnovers. That 2018 Rams season culminated in Super Bowl LIII (53), one of the most boring Super Bowls in NFL history; the Patriots won 13-3 (coincidentally the Rams record that year), with Goff putting up an abysmal 57.9 rating. That season more or less summed up Goff’s tenure with the Rams. While he put up great stats in certain categories, he was clearly lacking in others, and consistently struggled in the playoffs. During his time in Los Angeles, the Rams put up only that single conference championship. Even then, that conference championship against the Saints notoriously featured one of the most controversial endings to a playoff game in NFL history; New Orleans lost that game on a blatantly missed DPI call against the Rams.
Then, in 2021, Goff and a pair of first-round picks were sent to the Lions in return for veteran QB Matthew Stafford. [Ed. Note—Did you know Jared Goff was the Rams’ last first-round pick until 2024? The Rams are the OKC Thunder of the NFL.] In Stafford’s first season with the Rams, the team defeated the Bengals in the Super Bowl, which gave Stafford his first ring, made Sean McVay the youngest head coach to win the Lombardi Trophy at just 36 years old, and, most importantly, made Mr. Simkins very happy.
Meanwhile, Goff was doing interesting things in Detroit. The Lions finished the year 3-13-1, with Goff playing in 14 games. Coincidence or not (it’s not), the Lions lost all three of the games Goff did not play in. Goff finished the year at 19 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, as well as a 91.5 rating.
But since then, Goff has been playing even better than he did in Los Angeles, and in conjunction with head coach Dan “Both-Kneecap Biter” Campbell and young players like Aidan Hutchinson and Penei Sewell, has been the major force behind the Lions’ turnaround from a bottom-of-the-barrel team into a legitimate Super Bowl contender. His 2022 record? A passable 9-8. 2023? A delectable 12-5, including a trip to the divisional round of the playoffs. And now, he is 10-1 through the first seven games of the season, and on track for one of the best seasons of his career. Through those eleven games, he has a 72.9% completion rate, a career best by 6.2%. He is also averaging 9 yards per attempt, and has a career best rating of 109.9. To put it into simpler terms, Jared Goff and the Lions as a whole are collectively cooking.
As of right now, Jared Goff is one of the frontrunners for MVP, something hardly any football-loving soul would have dreamt about five years ago when thinking about his time in Los Angeles. At the time of this writing, the Lions are coming off a resounding 24-6 win against the Colts, and after putting up six consecutive triple-digit ratings earlier in the season, Goff managed to put up a perfect 158.3 against the Jaguars in Week 11, after already logging a couple 150+ games on the season. Yes, the Jaguars have turned into a heck of a pumpkin (Halloween pun intended) with a record of 2-9 so far, but the Lions averaging 13 points per quarter is a good sign, especially if they can keep it up once the playoffs come around.
We’re taught growing up that the lion is the king of the jungle. Right now, the NFC North, with its 10-1 Lions, 9-2 Vikings and 8-3 Packers, is the jungle. (Sorry about that, Bears fans.) And Jared Goff just might be the Lion King.