Jared Goff has been hard at work since joining the Detroit Lions roster. The team hadn’t played postseason football in many years. Despite a rocky start to his career at Ford Field, he’s taken the team to the top of the NFC North standings in 2023 and 2024. Can he help the team advance and become a franchise QB, bringing success to the Lions?
What is a franchise player?
To be crystal clear, let’s define a franchise player or quarterback. Essentially, this tag goes to a player a team can build its roster around, i.e., buy more players who complement the ‘franchise’ player. Therefore, a franchise QB can orchestrate play with all other field personnel in this case.
Ranked among the best QBs in 2024
So, how good is Jared Goff? Well, in 2024, he played all 17 games, threw 37 pass touchdowns, and made over 4,600 in passing yards. After all these performances, great numbers ensured that the Detroit Lions made the postseason. Official NFL journalists ranked Goff as the #4 of all QBs in the 2024 season behind Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson.
For context, that’s above the two quarterbacks who played in the Super Bowl, as Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs) was only ranked eighth, while overall winner Jalen Hurts was only ranked as the #16 QB. If only Goff had slightly better players around him, could the Lions make the Super Bowl?
John Morton is back with the Lions.
The offensive coordinator role is among any NFL franchise’s most important staff positions. John Morton has already worked for the Detroit Lions as the senior offensive assistant but has returned as the offensive coordinator after two years in the backroom at the Denver Broncos.
Morton brings a lot of knowledge to any backroom, having had an extensive playing career before the NFL and played in the Canadian Football League and the European system with the Frankfurt Galaxy.
David Shaw gets hands-on again
David Shaw has come out of semi-retirement to be properly involved in football. The four-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year made Stanford one of the elite college programmes. Last season, he was a senior personnel executive, but for 2025, he has been named the passing game coordinator.
This means that he’ll be working directly with Goff to improve the motion of the ball up the field. Shaw was a wide receiver in college, so he can coach exactly what Goff needs to do to connect with his WR tools up the field.
Arguments as to why Goff is already a legitimate franchise QB for the Lions
Let’s take a minute to remember how the Detroit Lions have improved. The team had never finished as the number one seed in the NFC North before. That changed in 2023, only with Goff in the team. Arguably becoming the best-ever QB that the franchise has ever had. Of course, die-hard superfans will argue that Tobin Rote won the NFL Championship with the Lions in 1957…but that was a long time ago. Goff is the route for today’s fans.
The MVP debate is often huge when it comes to validating a QB and perhaps Goff doesn’t have enough of a dual threat to get him over the line. He’s often listed in the secondary category of favorites in the MVP betting, meaning you would be better off using one of the lucrative welcome bonuses from offshore sportsbooks rather than your own money on that one.
Lions fans may also argue that a Super Bowl is worth so much more than a player winning MVP – something that Buffalo Bills fans know only so well.
Can Ronnie Bell shake up the WR lineup?
It’s worth noting that Ronnie Bell is currently only with the Detroit Lions as an offseason member. However, that can change if he plays well and impresses the coaches, leaving them to think he can help the team. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that the wide receiver was playing well for the San Francisco 49ers.
He played all 17 games in his rookie year, doing a decent job, catching three touchdowns. Granted, he wasn’t breaking records – but for a young player being swapped in and out of the minutes, he was delivering on the promise of his college career.
Unfortunately, he made some critical errors at the start of the 2024 season, Week 2, specifically when he dropped multiple passes, which led to him being waived by the 49ers. However, he’s still young and can learn from his mistakes. Can he do that with the Lions and make Goff an even better QB?
More than enough time for Goff
There’s no definitive answer on when quarterbacks retire. However, the average age is somewhere between 36 and 38. Jared Goff is only 30 years old, so he’s got at least six years left in his career. That’s more than enough time for him to become the franchise QB for the Lions.
