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The Detroit Lions have a quarterback in Jared Goff that might not make big headlines in the NFL, but is no less solid of a player.
Goff stepped up big during the 2022 season and proved that he can be an answer for the Lions. As a result of this, he has earned some respect from Fox Sports analyst Colin Cowherd.
On a recent episode of The Herd, Cowherd took a look at re-ranking the top NFC quarterbacks after Derek Carr was added to the conference. Perhaps surprising to some, Goff was seen as a top-five conference option to Cowherd.
Overall, he placed third on the list, only trailing the likes of Matthew Stafford and Jalen Hurts on the ranking list.
“Laugh all you want, Jared Goff’s been to a Super Bowl. Oh by the way, first seven years in the NFL, Pro Bowler three times. Oh by the way, led the Lions to their first winning season since 2017. He’s pretty good. 90-plus passer rating in five of the last six years. He’s not mobile. He’s Matt Ryan with better arm talent. Matt Ryan won an MVP,” Cowherd said in the clip.
Changes could be coming to the NFC hierarchy at the position in the near future, and that could leave Goff even better positioned to assume the mantle as one of the conference’s best passers.
Right now, Cowherd already seems to see that, even if some around football might not.
End of 2022 Power Rankings Disrespected Jared Goff
Cowherd is giving Goff some respect, but in some previous ranking lists, the Lions’ top passer found earning some of those accolades from the media hard to find.
Writer Arif Hasan power ranked all the quarterbacks in the NFL, and Goff placed 22nd overall. He was stunningly behind names like Jacoby Brissett, Justin Fields, Ryan Tannehill and Brock Purdy, who didn’t even play a complete season in the league.
Hasan wrote that Goff has some drawbacks to his game where if he could clean them up, he may be able to achieve a higher ranking overall.
“Like (Brock) Purdy and (Jimmy) Garoppolo, Goff takes advantage of an excellent supporting cast to help produce on offense. He doesn’t process as quickly as the other two, and his accuracy is not quite up to their standards, but he does have a good arm and an understanding of what he needs to do. If he could create off-book as well as Purdy or some of the other quarterbacks on this list, he’d be ranked much higher,” Hasan wrote in the piece.
Goff may have some limitations, but he also plays at a very high level, and has managed to do things that other players ahead of him on the list haven’t done in the league such as go to a Super Bowl, win a playoff game and make a Pro Bowl.
To see him low on any power ranking list after the season he had is very surprising.
Jared Goff’s Place Within NFC Power Rankings
In terms of where Goff rates against his NFC competition, there’s going to be temptation for some to say that he was overrated. For the future, though, Cowherd’s placement of Goff seems spot-on.
Most of last season, Goff proved why he was a player to be taken seriously in the NFL. In 2022, Goff put up a very solid 29 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. Goff also threw for a quality 4,438 yards with a very good 99.3 QBR. He avoided big mistakes for the most part, and was a player who has looked very comfortable within the team’s offense under Ben Johnson.
Unfortunately for him, Goff isn’t flashy, and as a result, he rarely earns hype from the media as one of the best players in the entire league. It’s always going to be tough for Goff to get the recognition he deserves, short of leading the Lions to some dramatic winning on the field in the near future.
In terms of the conference, statistically and with regards to accomplishments, it’s probably only fair to rank Jalen Hurts and Matthew Stafford over him. Stafford, however, will be trying to rebound from injury in 2023 and has been the subject of early offseason trade rumors.
Goff does have a Super Bowl appearance, as well as a trio of appearances in the Pro Bowl in 2017, 2018 and 2022. He also has two playoff wins, a rare number for a Lions quarterback to hold.
At this point, he might be one of the best in the conference when all is said and done.
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