Motown Bombers

Here's another narrative buster regarding Goff: "Goff led the NFL with 1,635 passing yards when blitzed this season. His 13 touchdowns were second behind only Patrick Mahomes (16). Goff had a 106.8 passer rating when teams attempted to blitz him." https://www.detroitlions.com/news/2022-position-breakdown-quarterbacks-goff-sudfeld

The Vikings drafted Kellen Mond in the 3rd round last year. He attempted two passes last year as a backup to the backup and is already out of the league. Really important Minnesota used a 3rd round pick to draft a backup QB since Kirk Cousins has never missed a game due to injury since becoming a full time starter in 2015.

Well one is the Lions and I'm guessing the other is the Packers as I don't think Rodgers missed a game.

A lot of people had Rodgers as the best player in the draft and he slid to 24. The Packers also had Favre who was very wishy washy and getting up in age. Favre was entering his age 36 season.

This whole need for a backup QB is one of the more bizarre twists of the offseason. The Bengals backup QB is Brandon Allen. A 30 year old who was drafted by Jacksonville in the 6th round and is on his 3rd team. Joe Burrow has had serious injury in his career. He's not even as durable as Goff.

Rodgers was backup for 3 years but he was drafted for the purposes of replacing Favre but you don't want to replace Goff. We need Richardson for those all important kneel downs and handoffs in blowouts.

The Lions top need, who at one point had a historically bad defense, is a position that played 9 snaps last year and didn't attempt a single pass.

So you want to draft a backup QB with the 6th overall pick? Richardson is going in the 1st round. You don't draft backups in the 1st round. Oh well guess I'll never know since you took your ball and went home.

Making the most money on a bad team isn't always the best option. Just ask Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson.

Sure seems like you are.

That's fine. You want to replace Goff with Riochardson but don't disguise it as the Lions need a backup QB.

Fine, then sign a veteran. You said to draft Richardson which would require the Lions to draft him in the 1st round. You don't draft a backup QB in the first round. You draft your future QB in the 1st round which means you don't think Goff is the future QB. Goff didn't miss a single snap last year. He has only missed three games due to injury the past six years. Backup QB is in no way one of their top needs.

The Jets are a team that's made for a veteran QB to walk into and succeed. I'm just leery about Brady. he's 46 at some point the decline is going to come and come quickly just like when Peyton Manning and Drew Brees suddenly fell off cliffs. I don't think Geno and the Jets would be interested in a reunion. I could see Derek Carr as a strong possibility.

That Jets rookie class is pretty good especially at the top. I really like what the Jets are doing it's just that Zach Wilson blows.

Ranking the top draft classes from the 2022 NFL season | NFL News, Rankings and Statistics | PFF Lions ranked 3rd. Kerby Joseph graded pretty well but there was strong competition at Safety this year. The Lions ranked 3rd without getting much from Williams which was expected and Paschal being injured.

FWIW, PFF had Rodriguez graded as one of the best rookie LB this year. PFF's 2022 NFL All-Rookie Team: Brock Purdy, Aidan Hutchinson, Sauce Gardner and more | NFL News, Rankings and Statistics | PFF

Of course. The only value Stafford could have provided to the Lions was a higher draft pick and he did his part by having a 3-6 record and throwing more INTs in 9 games than Goff did the entire season.

But the Lions have a QB who rarely misses time so even if he finds a late round gem, that QB isn't going to play. Drafting a LB in the 6th round means there are opportunities to play at the very least on special teams. If you are worried about Goff being injured, sign a veteran like Andy Dalton. I suspect the draft a developmental QB to be backup camp really wants to justify drafting a Goff replacement. Backup QB is the lowest need for this team other than punter.

Derrick Barnes wasn't terrible last year and was better than the year before. I would not be surprised if they chose to give Barnes a larger role and move on from Anzalone.

Weird how when Stafford lost his support system in LA this year and had one of the worst seasons of his career before being injured he isn't just a game manager. Stafford was on pace to have a worse season than any Goff season in LA.

Geno Smith is 32 and has never come close to this kind of production. Goff is a former #1 pick and I think that means something. He has the pedigree and talent evaluators, including the Lions GM, believed he was a franchise QB. There also seems to be a perception around his Super Bowl run that he was dragged to the Super Bowl ala Trent Dilfer or Rex Grossman. It's not true. He was good in 2018. A deserving Pro Bowler. It's also not like "bad" Goff was that bad. He was basically average his last two seasons with the Rams and they still won, made the playoffs and won a playoff game. Since becoming a full time starter, he has one losing season in six seasons. Don't forget, the Lions run game regressed for a while during the middle of the season. They had to lean more on Goff and the passing game and Goff actually got better when more was being asked of him and he didn't have the dominant run game to lean on. It kills the narrative that he needs to be coddled and needs such a strong support system. The Goff and Stafford trajectories are remarkably similar but Goff has more competent coaching and I believe a better roster than Stafford did at this point in his career so I believe there is more opportunity for team success than just spinning your wheels like the Stafford era. Goff doesn't wow with physical abilities. He isn't going to run it like Hurts or make the off platform throws like Stafford, but he's efficient and doesn't hurt the team. I think the talk about drafting a development QB as a backup is a way to justify drafting a replacement for Goff. Goff hasn't endeared himself to fans yet. He doesn't have that game where he threw the game winning pass with a separated shoulder or had the fake spike game winning TD. If the Lions win some playoff games, that will change perception.

How many of these late round developmental QBs actually turn into good QBs? Of course there is the unicorn Tom Brady, but who else? Russell Wilson? Tony Romo? It's more often a wasted pick. Just go all in on a 1st round QB or roll with Goff and sign a veteran backup if backup is that important for a QB that has only missed 3 games due to actual injury the past 6 years.

People made up their minds on Goff when he was brought over from the Rams. Then when he was given the likes of Khadarel Hoge and Tom Kennedy as his top receivers, they were like see. The season he had this year was as good as just about any Stafford season. He couldn't play well without Gurley and McVay and he completely blew up that narrative.

Johnson already did a virtual interview with Carolina. He was scheduled to meet in person with the Panthers. Sources close to the Panthers, not his agent, said he was the front runner. You go for the in person interview even if you aren't the front runner. I think it's more likely Ben Johnson didn't want the job more than the Panthers or every other team didn't want him. I've been reading on Twitter that the Panthers have been interviewing coordinators before hiring a coach. Panther fans are complaining about the toxicity of ownership. Lions don't have toxic ownership.