Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 24 -- Jared Goff, Golden Bear Elevates Lions

We are counting down Cal’s top 50 athletes based on their careers as post-collegiate professionals. Their performance as Golden Bears is not factored into the rankings.

24. JARED GOFF

Years at Cal: 2013 to 2015

Sport: Football 

Pro teams: Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions 

Age: 30

Hometown: Novato, Calif.

Why we ranked him here: In 2016 after his junior season, Goff became Cal’s first No. 1 overall NFL draft choice since fellow quarterback Steve Bartkowski in 1975. The Los Angeles Rams selected him, and by Goff’s third season he passed for 4,688 yards and 32 touchdowns and helped the Rams to Super Bowl LIII. Goff and the offense couldn’t get into the end zone in a 13-3 loss to the New England Patriots, and by the next season the Rams began to lose confidence in their quarterback. Goff passed for 4,638 yards in 2019 but also threw a career-high 16 interceptions and the team failed to make the playoffs. After the Rams lost in the second round of the 2020 postseason, Goff was traded to Detroit for Matthew Stafford. A perennial loser, Detroit hadn’t won a postseason game since 1991. The Lions went 3-13-1 and 9-8 in Goff’s first two seasons, but they were 12-5 in 2023 and beat the Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs before losing 34-31 to the 49ers in the NFL championship game. The Lions were 15-2 last season before being upset 45-31 by Washington in their postseason opener. Detroit hasn't had success to match the past two seasons since the 1950s, when the franchise won three NFL titles. Goff was a Pro Bowl selection for the fourth time in 2024 and finished fifth in MVP voting. He has passed for more than 4,400 yards five times and in his past three seasons has thrown 96 touchdowns with just 31 interceptions. Goff’s regular-season record as a starting quarterback is 81-52-1 and his career numbers include 35,058 passing yards and 222 TDs.