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Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) gives directions to his teammates as they finish stretching during training camp Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Several NFL Executives Believe Jared Goff Is Third-Tier Quarterback

Originally posted on Detroit Lions on SI
By John Maakaron | Last updated Aug 12, 2025 12:05 PM ET

No matter how much success Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff achieves, there likely will be a handful of those in the football world that will diminish what he can bring to the table.

In a recent poll used to rank NFL quarterbacks into tiers, eight voters listed the former No. 1 overall pick as a third-tier quarterback.

The reasoning used has been one that has shared by many: Goff needs a significant amount of talent around him in order to success.

"He's a 3 because he needs the run game, he needs a defense, he needs all those things," a voter expressed.

In the end, the 30-year-old was officially listed as a second-tier quarterback, ranked eighth overall. Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson were the representatives listed in the Tier 1 category.

Goff was voted in the top echelon by five participants in the survey, including one coach who holds his anticipatory ability in high regard.

"Goff and Burrow are probably the two best anticipation throwers that I have seen lately, so you have to put him at a 1," a head coach told The Athletic. "You might put him at a 2 from a pure quarterback standpoint — he struggles to extend plays — but the guy has played at a 1 level for three years."

Many are wondering this season if Goff can continue his MVP-caliber play without Ben Johnson calling plays.

"You will see this year if it is the coordinator or the quarterback, but I think it has been more the quarterback than advertised," one executive said. "Goff and Mayfield are legit guys who can get in a rhythm and dice you up. They are not as good as the top guys in Tier 1, but they deserve to be up there."

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Goff expressed in a recent radio interview that he is better able, as he gains more experience being a starter, to get through a majority of progressions on any given pass play.

"Yeah, I think in the latter half of my career, it's always been being better at getting to three and four (in route progressions). It's continuing to be that way," Goff told 97.1 The Ticket this week. "One and two, you'd like to think in a good offense, you're getting that guy open 60 or 70 percent of the time. But being able to in that 30 or 40 percent of the time, to accurately and quickly get to three and four and know when to get there and where the ball needs to be, that stuff I'm always working on. It's a challenge, not many guys are able to get all the way through it. I take pride in doing that and keeping plays alive for our offense."

One of the aspects of Goff's game that has steadily improved, since he was traded to Detroit back in 2021, has been ball security. As a whole, he has vastly grown since the Lions acquired him.

"He has definitely grown over the last couple years," a defensive coordinator said. "Early in his career, if you got him to be just a dropback quarterback, he would make a lot more mistakes. He is better in that area as far as protecting the football. He has a good run game, they have a good team. I'm not going to hold that against him too much."

This article first appeared on Detroit Lions on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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