Brad Holmes, Detroit Lions (Photo by Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press Syndication)
The Detroit Lions‘ new brass of general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell say Jared Goff is the answer. But if he can’t keep opposing defenses honest, he isn’t.
It has been the biggest offseason story of the Detroit Lions. The trade of their long-time signal-caller, Matthew Stafford, for draft capital and Jared Goff. Right from the moment the news broke, all the Motor City faithful considered the acquisition of Goff to be nothing more than a throw-in to get the Rams to agree to the proposed trade.
After all, Sean McVay wanted to get rid of Goff so bad that sending a couple of future first-round picks to the Lions along with a third-round selection this year was no big deal if it allowed them to upgrade the quarterback position with Matthew Stafford. McVay has done almost nothing but rave about his new passer since.
Meanwhile, in Detroit, everyone waited to see what the catch was. To what purpose did Brad Holmes acquire Goff who is coming off back-to-back poor seasons? Surely this was only a stepping stone until they drafted their quarterback of the future.
Instead, Brad Holmes did not select a quarterback. The three top quarterback prospects were gone after the first three selections. When the Lions turn on the clock came they were more impressed with Oregon Tackle than Penei Sewell than Ohio State passer Justin Fields.
No quarterback selected, the offensive line became stronger, and then Holmes announced that he believes Jared Goff is the answer at quarterback. Truth be told, for the time being, he doesn’t have a better option.
Goff has won in this league. It isn’t easy to win in the NFL, but Goff has done that and been a big contributor to a team that went all the way to the Super Bowl. However, that was all with a superior team than he will take the field with this fall.
So Jared Goff is, technically speaking, the answer for this coming season. The real question is; can he be the long-term answer?