2023 NFL quarterback analysis: Detroit Lions
Current starter: Jared Goff | Current backups: Nate Sudfeld
State of the position: Goff experienced a career renaissance in 2022 under first-year offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. He was tied for fifth in the NFL in touchdown passes (29), and he ranked sixth in passing yards (4,438) and yards per pass (7.6), and seventh in passer rating (99.3).
He threw for the second-most single-season touchdown passes in his career and the third-most single-season passing yards. He also had five games with three or more touchdown passes — the second-best mark of his career.
Goff also had the highest touchdown-to-interception ratio and the lowest interception rate of any quarterback to start 10 or more games in 2022. Detroit’s starting QB job appears to be his for the foreseeable future.
Key stat: Goff didn’t throw an interception in his last nine games (324 pass attempts) — a Lions franchise record and the fifth-longest streak in NFL history.
2023 QB forecast: The Lions have two picks in the first round of the 2023 draft — Nos. 6 and 18 — and it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility they use one of them on a quarterback of the future. But with a defense that ranked last in yards allowed and 28th in points allowed, it would be wise to use both picks to bolster the defense.
Goff, 28, proved that he’s got plenty left in the tank and he’s still young enough that Detroit could get a few more solid years out of him before needing to address the QB position, especially with Johnson announcing he was returning as offensive coordinator in 2023 after being a candidate for several head coaching jobs.
Though Sudfeld’s contract expires at the end of the season, he knows Detroit’s system and it would make sense to re-sign him to backup Goff for another year. If not, there will be plenty of veteran signal callers to choose from.
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