With a good matchup coming in Week 5, Lions’ quarterback Jared Goff is a sneaky fantasy sleeper.
Jared Goff often meanders his way to good numbers in the games he delivers good numbers, with nearly equal parts mistakes and good plays. But this is fantasy football, and we don’t have to care about the eye test in this bottom line business.
Here’s how Goff has done in the first four weeks, with his fantasy finish.
Week 1: 338 passing yard, 3 TD, 1 INT; 14 rushing yard-QB3
Week 2: 246 passing yards, 2 TD, INT; 46 rushing yards, one fumble lost-QB15
Week 3: 217 passing yards, 0 TD, O INT; four rushing yards-QB30
Week 4: 299 passing yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, eight rushing yards, two fumbles lost-QB22
Take away a fumbled lost that was hardly his fault in Week 4, and Goff would have finished as a top-18 fantasy quarterback in three of the first four games. Not elite territory, but he has multiple passing touchdowns in three of four games too.
Fantasy Football: Jared Goff is a sneaky sleeper for Week 5
In Week 5, Goff and the Lions take on the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are a mid-pack fantasy defense against quarterbacks (19.9 points allowed per game; Yahoo! scoring). But Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield had an erratic performance against them in Week 4, completing less than half of his passes (15 of 33) for 155 yards with a notable missed deep ball to Odell Beckham that would’ve been a touchdown. In Week 1-3, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson each topped 260 yards through the air with Burrow and Murray also throwing multiple touchdowns.
The Vikings are also looking thin at corner heading into Sunday’s game. Cameron Dantzler and Harrison Hand are on the COVID-19 list. Breshaud Breeland exited last Sunday’s game against the Browns with an illness that had limited him in practice, and his status is up in the air. When fully available, Breeland has not been very good this year.
A big knock against Goff this week is an injury-ravaged offensive line in front of him. Left tackle Taylor Decker and center Frank Ragnow will miss Sunday’s game, and according to Kyle Meinke of MLive.com rookie tackle Penei Sewell (ankle) did not practice on Wednesday.
The Lions may find themselves in a heavy passing mode on Sunday. A fourth game this season with at least 36 pass attempts is in the offing. There may be a lot of sacks taken and a chunk of mistakes, but Goff might just meander his way to 250-300 yards and multiple touchdowns with a bit of rushing yardage.
If you’re looking for a startable QB2 in leagues where it’s applicable, or a low-end streamer in single-quarterback leagues if circumstance dictates, don’t overlook Goff this week.