Getty Jared Goff on the sidelines during the Lions' preseason finale in 2021.
The Detroit Lions have made plenty of changes this offseason leading into 2021, and quite possibly the biggest revolves around what has consistently happened at wide receiver.
Detroit’s group is totally different heading into the season, and arguably, have seen even deeper changes since the start of free agency and the offseason. Camp and the preseason have provided yet another proving ground for the players, and additional changes have been made.
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With this in mind, it’s easy to see how some folks would have concerns about who’s going to catch the ball. Interestingly enough, the man who will throw the ball isn’t worried about any of that at this point in time. Jared Goff likes what he’s got at wideout and seems very confident in his teammates for 2021.
Speaking on an interview with Karsch & Anderson on 97.1 The Ticket radio on Tuesday, September 7, Goff was asked specifically about the wideout group. As he said, he isn’t worried about the group one bit from a play standpoint even though they don’t have huge names and many might be concerned about what they will bring to the mix.
“I love our receivers, I think there may be a notion that we don’t have any big-name guys. The guys we have here are so exciting and fun to play with and so much better than advertised,” Goff explained. “I think Tyrell Williams obviously, Kalif Raymond is starting outside for us as well, Amon-Ra St. Brown. All these guys who have come in have been so fun for me to play with and have so much skill and talent and they’re so great. Then obviously, T.J. (Hockenson) will be a receiving weapon for us as well. We’re deep there man, we’re deep. The guys we’ve added there with Trinity (Benson) and KhaDarel (Hodge) now kind of rounds out that room so we feel good about it.”
This offseason, there’s almost been a revolving door at the wideout spot every day, but Goff’s words can help ease the minds of anxious fans. It’s clear he believes in the talent he has been given and is ready to unleash it at the start of the 2021 season.
Jared Goff Touts Skills of Trinity Benson
As Goff explained in the interview, the Lions added some intriguing players to the mix in wideouts Trinity Benson and KhaDarel Hodge. While Goff has some previous experience with Hodge from his time in Los Angeles, he didn’t know Benson, but loves what he has seen thus far in the wideout in terms of his raw talent and skills on the field.
“I think first of all his speed, he can run. That’s something that we definitely needed was some speed and I think he can provide that,” Goff told the show of Benson. “I think just separation, overall separation at the top of the route is something we stress and something that he kind of just has innately, being able to speed up, slow down and really just shift his weight and get in and out of routes. I think you see that a lot from him.”
Benson himself has admitted that he feels blessed to be joining the Lions, so it’s clear that his own play and talent can match up in a place where he’s believed in.
With Goff encouraged, now the Lions can set out with a proper game plan of how to use Benson.
Antwaan Randle El Believes in Lions Wide Receivers
It helps when the wide receiver coach is another such person hyping up the group instead of tearing them down, and that’s just what Antwaan Randle El has done thus far as the wideout coach. As a whole, neither he or his players seem too interested in the notion that they will struggle depth wise or production wise thanks to all the changes before the 2021 season.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, August 11 after practice in an interview posted to DetroitLions.com, Randle El was asked about some of the potential criticism of his group. As he said, nobody’s been listening to any of that thus far as they work to get ready for the year.
“I wouldn’t know about it, they wouldn’t know about it. We don’t care,” Randle El said directly when asked by the media about such criticisms of his group. “We know what we’re about, what we’re trying to do, and that’s really our focus.”
Specifically, Randle El told the media that from what he has seen thus far, the team could prove to surprise some folks thanks to how players are developing.
“I think we’re really good. I think we’ll be really good. I feel like we’ll surprise some people. But it’s just a matter of just keep growing, Randle El told the media. “That steady pace I talked about in terms of consistency, it’s just about getting there and continuing that and that’s what we’ve been doing. I feel like we’re a good group, we’re going to have some depth and some guy who can really play. It’s just a matter of getting in these games and continuing to know the offense in and out so we can continue to improve so we can be ready to go to start the first game.”
No doubt that Goff agrees with Randle El in this assessment, and it’s looking all systems go for this rebuilt group come Sunday in Week 1.
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