Lions QB Jared Goff Should Be the MVP Frontrunner

Former Cal star Goff is starting to get the recognition he deserves, but we'll see in Sunday''s game in Green Bay where he stands

Former Cal star and current Lions quarterback Jared Goff / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Former Cal quarterback Jared Goff should be the frontrunner for the NFL MVP award, but observers have trouble getting on board with that.

Why?

Well, he doesn’t have the flair of Patrick Mahomes, who is a highlight film favorite with his no-look passes and behind-the-back completions.

He doesn’t have the exciting scrambling ability of Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson, who wow you with their speed.

Goff doesn’t have the controversial personality of former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who manages to create headlines without throwing a pass.

Goff doesn’t have the colorful personality of a Baker Mayfield or the youthful, up-and-coming appeal C.J. Stroud or Jayden Daniels.

When is the last time you read or heard a quote from Jared Goff?

And people can’t forget that the Rams simply unloaded Goff after his disappointing 2020 season, giving away Goff, two first-round draft choices and a third-round pick just to get rid of Goff and get one player, Matt Stafford. It left the belief that Goff’s days as a starting quarterback in the NFL were over.

Goff is an anachronism -- a drop-back quarterback who can’t run his way out of trouble and has no tricks up his sleeve.  When Tom Brady retired, that style of star quarterback may have retired with him.  Except for Goff.

The only thing Goff has going for him are his statistics and the Lions’ success, which, of course, are all that should matter.

Consider these items:

--Goff is virtually tied with Jackson for the NFL’s best passer rating, the single best indicator of a quarterback’s passing proficiency.

--The Lions are 6-1, their best start since 1956, and they are considered the best team in the NFC and possibly the entire NFL.

--Detroit is 3-1 in one-score games, the type of games that determine a quarterback’s value.  He directed the Lions to the game-winning touchdown in overtime against the Rams and led his team to the game-winning field goal with 19 seconds remaining in the one-point road victory over Minnesota, which was unbeaten at the time.

--Over the past four games, all wins, Goff has completed 84.3% of his passes with 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He barely has more incompletions (13) than TD passes (10) in that span and his passer rating over those four games is a ridiculous 155.05.

--Goff handles pressure; he has a 78 percent completion rating against the blitz.

--You might argue that the Lions’ defense is the reason for Detroit’s success. Well, the Lions rank 20th in the NFL in total defense, and they won the past two games without their best defensive player, Aidan Hutchinson.

Goff is just now starting to get some MVP consideration. Listen to Stephen A. Smith:

This week Goff is among four players who have the lowest odds of winning the MVP, according to betting sites.  Allen, Jackson, Mahomes and Goff all have odds ranging from about 3-to-1 for Allen to about 6-to-1 for Goff.

For now those four have separated themselves from the field, with no other player having odds shorter than 10-to-1.

But of those four players atop the MVP odds, Goff is fourth, with odds ranking from 5.5-to-1 to 8-to-1, depending on the betting site you choose.

It’s surprising Goff is that high on the board considering what happened last year.  Goff finished second in the NFL in passing yards and fourth in touchdown passes for a Lions team that tied for the best record in the NFC at 12-5. 

Ten players received votes in the MVP balloting. C.J. Stroud was one of the 10. So were Myles Garrett and Matthew Stafford.  But Goff did not get a single vote in a process in which voters make their top five picks.

People in Detroit were chanting Jared Goff’s name, not only at NFL games but at NHL games at the end of the 2023 season.

Music to our ears #AllGrit #LGRW https://t.co/raF4YjTJLm

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) January 26, 2024

However, MVP voters apparently forgot his name.

You would have thought the season Goff and the Lions had last year might make Goff one of the preseason favorites to win the MVP this year.  Well, no. Goff opened as a 50-to-1 shot to win the MVP, and 17 players had shorter odds than him. Trevor Lawrence and Anthony Richardson had shorter odds, and Justin Fields had the same odds as Goff.

Let’s see how the Lions and Goff do in their road game against the 6-2 Packers on Sunday afternoon.  If the Lions lose or Goff struggles, his MVP chances take a hit.  But if Detroit wins and Goff has a hand in the victory, the Goff MVP campaign gets stronger and people will start to notice.

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