When the Detroit Lions traded Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for a trio of draft picks and Jared Goff, you can bet that both GM Brad Holmes and HC Dan Campbell hoped that a fresh start for Goff would result in him emerging as a solid NFL starting QB.
But when the 2021 season kicked off, and as it went along for the Lions, Goff did not play well at all and there were plenty of fans and media members calling for him to be benched.
Campbell disagreed with that notion and he continued to roll with Goff and he has been playing some solid football over the past month or so.
While speaking to reporters on Friday, Campbell spoke about Goff and when you read between the lines a bit, it sure does seem like Goff will be the Lions starting QB in 2022 and possibly beyond.
From Detroit Free Press:
“For me, for him, I always felt like it’s hard to evaluate him until I feel like everything’s right, to an extent, and you can do a fair evaluation of where he is,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said Friday. “And so I feel like that’s come about over the last, really call it four weeks — three or four weeks. So now it’s starting to come a little bit more into focus.
“I feel like there’s a much clearer picture, and for different circumstances. For different reasons, a number of different reasons. And so I like where he’s trending right now. I like where he’s trending.”
“The Goff I know is what we saw in Minnesota and last week at Arizona, and that’s the player that I see,” Campbell said. “And I think there’s a number of reasons why that player, that possibly wasn’t there early in the year, it’s not just him. I think there’s a number of reasons that is all-encompassing, including us as a staff. So that’s why I’m saying, like, I like where he’s trending right now, and I think we’re starting to figure things out pretty good.”
It sure sounds like Campbell is leaning toward building around Goff but time will tell which direction the Lions ultimately go.
Goff will not play on Sunday against the Falcons after testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday.
