His first season as a Lion started badly but ended well, so here are three realistic goals for Jared Goff in 2022.
When Matthew Stafford asked to move on as the Detroit Lions entered a rebuild last offseason, they needed a quarterback and got a sweetener in the form of a second first-round pick to take Jared Goff and his contract back from the Los Angeles Rams.
During the early part of last season, Goff was awful and would have been benched if the other options were better or healthier. Over a five-game stretch (Week 5-9), he threw one total touchdown pass with a 72.1 passer rating.
An oblique injury cost Goff a game in Week 11, but it became an injury-forced break he needed.
Over his final five starts in 2021, Goff had 11 touchdowns, just two interceptions and a 107.1 passer rating that was among the top ratings in the league over the full stretch of final weeks (Week 12-18).
The Lions are committed to Goff for this season, and by all indications committed to getting the absolute best he has to offer.
With a better situation around him from the start, here are three realistic goals for Jared Goff in 2022.
3 realistic goals for Lions quarterback Jared Goff in 2022
Credit: Detroit Free Press-USA TODAY Sports
3. A Career-Best Completion Rate
During the aformentioned closing stretch last year, Goff had a 69.6 percent completion rate. Tight end T.J. Hockenson, he of the best contested catch rate among qualified tight ends by a good margin last year, missed the final five games and Goff’s last three starts. Running back D’Andre Swift, one of the best pass-catching backs in the league, missed four-plus games starting with Thanksgiving Day (Week 12) and had a reduced workload when he can back for the final two.
Last year’s 67.2 percent mark is the best completion rate of Goff’s career, fueled quite a bit by throwing short regularly (by necessity or otherwise). With better options, better design and ideally more confidence, topping that mark this year shouldn’t be a problem.