Jared Goff played some truly outstanding football down the stretch for the Detroit Lions in 2022. The quarterback overcame an uneven start to the year by catching fire in the team’s 8-2 finish, churning out stats that were in the top 10 in pretty much everything and top five in many categories.
The torrid finish from Goff wasn’t enough to overcome the inconsistent start in the latest set of NFL quarterback rankings from Pro Football Network.
PFN ranked the 39 quarterbacks who threw at least 100 passes in 2022 and “have a reasonable chance of being part of the quarterback discussion next year.”
Of those 39 quarterbacks, Goff checks in at No. 22 overall.
Goff sits in the middle of the fourth tier, one labeled “useful, but limited”. He’s sandwiched between Cleveland’s Jacoby Brissett and Steelers rookie Kenny Pickett.
The comments hint at why Goff appears much lower than expected by most,
Like Purdy and Garoppolo, Goff takes advantage of an excellent supporting cast to help produce on offense. He doesn’t process as quickly as the other two, and his accuracy is not quite up to their standards, but he does have a good arm and an understanding of what he needs to do. If he could create off-book as well as Purdy or some of the other quarterbacks on this list, he’d be ranked much higher.
Goff’s ranking is one of a few that raise some skeptical eyebrows. Geno Smith and Kirk Cousins each being at least 10 spots above Goff, and both 49ers QBs, Jimmy Garoppolo and rookie Brock Purdy, are also above the Lions QB. Hard to argue with the player at the bottom, Zach Wilson.
