Is Jared Goff underrated? Lions embracing their ‘not too flashy' QB as offense shifts out of Ben Johnson's hands

Yahoo

6 days ago

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Amon-Ra St. Brown understands the public perception.
The wide receiver doesn't agree with it, but he doesn't expect it to change.
Jared Goff, the 2016 first overall draft pick whom the Los Angeles Rams would later trade to the Detroit Lions, is underrated.
St. Brown believes it.
'I think he's been underrated his whole career and I don't think that'll ever go away,' St. Brown told Yahoo Sports from training camp practice. 'You look at a guy like Josh Allen: He's big, can run, crazy arm strength. You look at a guy like Lamar [Jackson]: fast, one of the best running quarterbacks you've ever seen, does stuff on the field that only he can do.
'You look at Patrick Mahomes: His arm angles, the throws he makes, just unconventional, his ability to win big games.'
And Goff?
'You look at a guy like Jared, I mean he's not too flashy,' St. Brown says of his quarterback. 'But he's consistent.'
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Goff's consistency led the Lions to a 15-2, best-in-NFC record last season.
The Lions hope Goff's consistency will help them transition from Ben Johnson, their offensive coordinator and play-caller the prior three seasons, to now-OC John Morton. They'll hope Goff can maintain consistency even as the quarterback and his linemen re-divide protection calls in the wake of four-time Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow's retirement.
Last year, Goff's consistency proved potent.
While he may not have dominated highlight reels to pace Jackson, Allen or Mahomes, Goff did put up numbers that were both his career-best marks and also challenged his counterparts for best in the league.
Only Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow topped Goff's 4,629 passing yards, and only Jackson surpassed his 111.8 passer rating. Goff's 37 total touchdown passes ranked fourth overall, while his 54.7% success rate (a metric that awards players who on first down gain at least 40% of yards to go; on second at least 60%; and on third and fourth 100%) was best in the league.
'The game has slowed down for him, from a protection standpoint,' Morton told Yahoo Sports. 'Being in Year 3 in the offense, you should be hitting on all cylinders, and that's what he was doing last year.'
Under Morton, the goal is to recapture that magic. Morton returns to the staff he served on in 2022 looking to accentuate his players' matchups and skill sets, with extra emphasis on teaching the offense from the quarterback's perspective.
Morton wants all of his offensive players to learn the quarterback responsibilities even if they won't all have to act on that knowledge. He wants skill players to understand when they're facing man defense and when it's zone; when to anticipate one high safety and when it's two.
'Not every receiver can do that, but the great ones I've been around — they see it just like the quarterback,' Morton said. 'The game slows down for them and they play free.'
That quarterback perspective, paired with technician-level routes, have helped make St. Brown 'trustworthy' to Goff, Morton said.
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Morton is implementing his wrinkles into the game plan while offensive line coach Hank Fraley continues to carry run game coordinator responsibilities. How will the two backgrounds mesh?
'In Johnny's background, he likes to throw the ball,' left tackle Taylor Decker told Yahoo Sports. 'That's kind of what the league has been going toward recently. But us, the Lions, we run the ball a lot. We run the ball a lot on third down, third-and-long. We go for it on fourth down a lot. So we have that luxury.
'I think the bulk of what you're going to see that's different with him is his pass-game route concepts. But still there are things that we've been good at here.'
Things at which the Lions have been good and Goff has been good.
Lions teammates and coaches look at Goff and, in some ways, believe in him for the same reasons others don't.
That unassuming, unflappable, not-spectacular-to-a-point-that's-almost-spectacular quarterback of theirs?
'He is a superstar, but he's not a diva,' Decker said. 'And I say that endearingly, in a positive light: He's just like a regular guy.'
And one destined, the Lions believe, to be perpetually underrated. A club that leans into its underdog mentality wouldn't have it any other way.
'I feel like he's always going to be underrated no matter what he does,' St. Brown said. 'Even if he wins the Super Bowl MVP, there's still going to be people saying stuff.
'I think that's what gets him going. And I love that for him.'