The Ringer NFL Show - The Lions Should Build Around Jared Goff | The Island

Episode Date: December 7, 2022

Welcome to ‘The Island’! Each week a guest tries to persuade Nora Princiotti to agree with an argument they feel strongly about. This week’s guest is The Ringer’s Danny Kelly, who details why the Detroit Lions should make Jared Goff their franchise QB. Will Nora join him on the island, or sail elsewhere? Host: Nora Princiotti Guest: Danny Kelly Associate Producer: Stefan Anderson Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The time has come to get ready for the 2022 World Cup. And what better way to prepare than by revisiting the World Cup's most amazing goals? I'm Brian Phillips. I'm making a podcast about the history of the men's World Cup, told through the stories of 22 iconic goals. The show's called 22 Goals. It's out now on the Ringer Podcast Network, and we're having so much fun. Hey guys, it's Nora. We've got a great episode of The Island for you today. Just a note that the first four minutes or so of our audio, something weird happened for my mic. We're working on it. But we used the Zoom audio for just the first couple of minutes of the show. So if you notice a little bit of a difference in the audio quality, just hang with it for a couple minutes. We go back to the regular version very quickly. And if you notice a little bit of a difference, that's why. Thank you.

And again, to me, one of the big stories of the season has really been just like the state of quarterback play in the NFL. You know, just it's been really bad. Like, if you have an elite quarterback on your team, like, congratulations. Because most of the league is dealing with like subpar quarterback play like right now. On the Bringer NFL show, I'm Norfolk, Ziaati. And this week, I am here with the one and only Danny Kelly. Danny, thank you so much for joining us on the island today. Thank you for having me.

I'm excited. Uh, without further ado, tell us what island you're on this week. I am on The Lions should... It's always good when you start laughing. I'm sorry, I totally cut you up, but it's always good when I'm like, what's the topic of the show? And you just start cracking up. Clearly, I'm extremely, extremely serious about this. Uh, I want to be on the Lions should build around Jared Goff Island.

Think of the island like a record, spinning on a turntable. Only now... record is skipping. Oh, that is funny. There's a little humor to that one. Yep. Okay. The Lions should build her on Jared Gough Island.

All right. Walk me through it. All right. So basically, that is the general gist, but there is more context here. Basically, what I'm saying is the Lions' offense is not the problem right now with their team. No matter how you slice it, both the offense overall and Jared Gough are like top 10 in the NFL. I just put together some of the stats. The Lions currently are sixth in points per game, 26.3,

seventh in yards per game, ninth and offensive DVOA, seventh and red zone DVOA, fourth and third down and fourth down DVO. So basically it's red zone and third and fourth down. They're all playing very well on those downs. Jared Goff, ninth in EPA per dropback, sixth and EPA total on dropbacks.

He has 19 touchdown passes in just 10, seven and a half yards per tenth. That's ninth. 95 pass rating. It's 11th. but he didn't quite make the top 10 there. 60 QBR. Come on, Jared.

I don't know. Basically what I'm saying is I look at this offense and this team overall and I'm like, the offense is not the problem. And it's probably only going to get better once James and Williams gets in there. You get DJ Chark a little bit more healthy. DeAndre Swift gets up to full health. This could be a really good high scoring offense. The defense is what needs to improve.

And so I say it a little tongue in cheek, but I do think that they should just continue on this course with Jared Gough as their quarterback and just try and build the defense and see if. they can contend right away. So I want to talk about the lions and what their offenses looked like this year. But you are one of our preeminent drafts gurus. And I think a lot of this has to do with the offseason, right? So let's sort of set the scene there.

Jared Goff is under contract through 2024. But the Rams, the Rams, geez. The Lions. That's like, I'll never stop saying that. The Lions could get out of the deal this year with 10 million in dead cap. Otherwise, he'd be under contract in 2023, 2024, count about 30 million a year towards the cap. Their own pick, obviously there's three agents. We can talk about that in terms of the draft.

Their own pick is currently 15. And then somewhat ironically, they have the race. Rams pick, which right now would be number four overall. So I feel like the elephant in the room is kind of like if they are decent and if the defense got better and if the offense had the same sorts of results that it's had this season, the Rams already, that's the second time. The Lions already. I'm just going to do like six years ago.

Yes, keep doing it. Lean into it. Any team just sort of saddled with Jared Goff in a really tricky situation. for me will forever be the Los Angeles ramps. I'll never be able to get over it. But the Lions already on their own would not have this high of a draft pick themselves.

So I feel like a big piece of this is whether or not you at quarterback in the draft. With NFL, how much you've had a chance to like really truly deep dive and cry. CJ Stroud.

Right. tell me how you assess what plan B or plan C if it was through the draft might look like if they did move on. So part, I guess part of this take and this just sort of general opinion that I think the lions are probably closer than they think and don't necessarily need to reset at the quarterback position is that I think the quarterback position in general is it's just going to be a lot of big question marks going into this draft. Obviously, if they have a chance to draft Bryce Young at that four spot, which I suppose there's a chance. It seems to seem to probably trade up before that and grab a quarterback where he might even go first overall to what's going to be probably the Texans. To me, Bryce Young is like a notch above everybody else just based on what I've seen so far.

But of course, he has question marks too. The sizing is going to be an issue with CJ Stroud. It's his ability to operate out of structure. and, you know, make plays on the move, when he's moved off his spot, when there's pressure in his face, all that stuff. Will Levis or Levis.

My version of Rams versus Lions is I cannot say Will Levis's name correctly for the life of me. I believe both of us by the end of the spot, we'll get it. I'm just going to say Will Levi's. He's got a ton of question marks as well. You know, Anthony Richardson just declared for the draft. I think he's a very, very interesting prospect. but again, he could take a little time to develop in the NFL.

And to me, it's like the division is right for the picking right now for the Lions. Like, they are already challenging to be one of the wildcard teams in the NFC. There's just a, you know, lack of top level quarterbacks in the NFC in general. And so, I don't know,

it just feels like they should strike when the iron's hot, grab a couple of, like, high-level defenders with these first two picks, get that defense shored up, and then they could be a competitive team in the NFC. So to me, that's more, it's less like I'm very convicted on any of these quarterbacks or think that they suck or think that they're great.

I'm just, you know, it's still early in the process. But to me, it's just like where they are as a team, as a roster, I think they'd probably be better off just going with Defender or Defender or 2 in the first round, maybe even Defender plus like a high-level receiver again or an offensive line. And they have a very good offensive line. They've got a run game.

You know, they can do the play-action game with Goff. Like he's shown that he can run this offense. The other key here that I haven't really brought up, that could maybe make my entire thesis crumble if it happened is if Ben Johnson left. Because their offensive coordinator, I think he's shown he's been extremely smart at like signing their offense, getting the most out of golf, getting the most out of the skill players they have because they've been pretty banged up this year. So have all these great numbers despite some of like the injuries that they've had and some of the lack of talent that they have on offense is really remarkable. So I think a lot of this is built on the idea that they can somehow convince Ben Johnson to stay, which might not be realistic. But I think overall, like, that's just kind of like where I'm coming from from a team building point of view. I think that they should go that route.

Well, there's a central question there about Ben Johnson and what he's done. I think he's done just a fantastic job. I mean, you look at what they've been able to create with one, just a very talented offensive line, which we know protection is something that has really influenced how Jared Goff performs, but then also, you know, what he's done with St. Brown, I think, in helping him become one of those receivers. I know Ben Solac always loves to throw out the stat of just how much value on a per route run basis he's contributed to that offense, just in terms of the splits between when he's on the field and off the field for Goff's EPA numbers are like, the difference is like for receivers, it's one of the most in the league.

And then just the combination of designs in the passing game and then what he's done with that running game, which again, I think just really stabilizes things for Goff has been really, really impressive. I'm curious how much you think and how you look at the question of how much of this is the offense and how much of this is the system versus how much of this is golf playing better because if you look at him this year, you can still slice it along play action, right? Right, right.

Play action dropbacks, his completion percentage is 68.7% drops to 63 on non-play action dropbacks. Passer rating goes from 115 to 87. A number of sacks he's taking goes from five to four. Like, he is, Jared Goff is a play action quarterback. Like, we know what he is. I think the fact that they have a good offensive line has eliminated a lot of the stuff that tends to go wrong when it's going wrong with one of those guys.

But there's still been, you know, I think his interception rate was really high at the beginning of the year and it's been really low recently. And that's one of the biggest things that's helped them sort of have this turn. around where the funny thing is that they could almost be sniffing at the playoffs if certain things break. But that is a long-winded way of asking you, like, how do you look at system versus quarterback in this case? Yeah, I look at, I believe, yeah, the system is definitely contributing to this. I'm very split and torn on how I feel about crop. Because on one hand, I think when you see him with pressure in his face or when he's forced to move off his spot.

Things crumble, and he's just not very good, honestly. That's, I think, been established throughout his career. But he's also had times during his career when he's able to put up incredible numbers. Like when he's in the system that can support him. And, of course, I don't, I'm not of any, I'm not delusional. I don't think he's like a high level, top level quarterback in the NFL. I just think that the way that they've got things going right now, the way that they've built their team, the way that they're scheming him up.

And with some of the, like, talent they have still kind of, untapped right now with James and Williams coming out. Like he's going to help at every aspect of their offense probably if he is who I think he's going to be. You know, I think that's good enough for them to win with. So this is, I think there's a big philosophical question right now in the NFL too.

Like, you know, how important is, how important is quarterback versus like the support system that he has around them? Like this has been the question. This has been the discussion around two of the whole season, of course. And there's no like one clear black and white answer.

It's, it's very situational. And I think right now the situation in Detroit is they have a good high scoring offense that's pretty balanced that Jared Gaffa's experience in and he's running it. And so just from like a short term point of view, obviously in the long term, they're going to have to find an answer at quarterback. But in the short term point of view, you know, they kind of feel like pretty close to being a competitive team for all the sort of like bad games that they've had this year and the collapses that they've had. like they still feel really close to me. So that's pretty much the crux of my thesis here. My take is that, you know, they have the scheme.

They've got the system in place. They've got, I think, the coaching and some of the talent in place to kind of elevate Goff and let him do, you know, the play action thing, of course, like you said, is crucial and critical that they do that. But as long as they can keep scheming him up, if they sink resources into other positions, get that defense going, this NFC, the NFC North, like, you know, wide open. Yeah.

It does seem suddenly very right for the taking. I mean, I think that the timing element is the biggest thing here, right? Because, and, you know, I'm always a little bit reluctant, especially, like, I don't study it like you do. But I'm always very reluctant to give, like, quarterback draft takes in December just because it feels like in the month or so leading up to the draft, the league always like, completely. completely convinces itself, talks to itself into like one guy who was on the outside of the elite group and then all of a sudden it's like,

is so and so going to go number one overall? So like, you know, unless somehow you are talking about like a Bryce Young, which I don't think there's, if they, you know, say they end up with the number four pick, that seems really,

really, really unlikely. It's just hard. to see who gives them a better shot in 2023, right? Like maybe they really like someone like an Anthony Richardson and can go, okay, let's make a bet here on traits. We actually look at the way that the NFL looks at the quarterback position right now. And we go, Jared, you're great. You've done a lot for us.

It's been probably better than it had any right to be. But in 2022, 2022, 2023, we just don't. think that we can hitch our wagon to a stationary quarterback, right? Like, we need someone with athletic traits. Anthony Richardson's not going to give you a better chance in 2023 than Jared Gough is. But maybe there's some way of managing two players if one needs to develop. And maybe you can long-term it like that. Totally.

But if we're purely talking about the argument for next year, like, that is the strongest argument for Jared Goff is the team is built to win how much. I don't know, but a lot of games. The funny thing is, like, there's always this conversation about, okay, can you win with quarterback X? And I feel like for so long, the two quarterbacks who've always come up are like Jared Gough and Jimmy Garoppelow who have played in Super Bowls. Right, right, right.

It's like the most ridiculous thing. But he, it is, we should talk about free agents. And the funny thing is this. There's a lot of variables, of course. Yeah. Right. Like, it's worth keeping an open mind about,

but particularly when the conversation has to do with that draft asset, it is really hard to look at, like, the different ways it could work out and figure, oh, yeah, here's another guy that if they were able to get them in the building, you probably genuinely have a better shot next year, maybe 2024, then with golf,

particularly because the offensive line is so good. and probably if you're building your team for 10 years, at some point the offensive line is just not going to be this good. And then you have problems, right? Because like, we've seen enough. We know. It's going to fall apart. Like, he's a statue and he hates pressure.

But he doesn't have to take it right now. So it's fine. Part of this whole take that I've built the foundation of this take around the idea that like any dominant like position, group that you have is very transitory. Like at some point, this offensive line is going to fall apart. We've seen this with like the Colts. You know, they were known as like having an elite offensive line.

That offensive line is not as elite as it used to be. Dropping Matt Ryan into that offense wasn't as good as everyone thought it might be. That whole thing kind of fell apart. And in Detroit, like they've got a young, good offensive line that can protect Jared Gough and let him do what he does best. He's not going to be moving around. He's not going to be creating on his own. But like if he can drop back, if he's going on third and fourth.

down if you can do play action. Like, it's all gravy. So, yes, part of it is, like, having the pieces fall in place at the right time. That's like the, that's the hardest part in the NFL, of course, is having the pieces all fall into place at the right time and, like, hit your groove. So part of, part of my thesis here is just looking at, like, the different pieces that are falling in part in place for them. James Williams coming back, you know, they could go out.

There's going to be really, really good running backs in free agency. the South Seas and they could maybe get one of those guys to like pair with DeAndre Swift. I think Jamal Williams is good too. They could have like a really, you know, dominant ground game to like really help with Jared Goff and kind of get him, you know, put a little less pressure on him to pair with their offensive line. You know, they've got Amon Ross St. Brown. I think again, like James Williams coming in, they maybe they'll re-sign DJ

Chark, who knows. But like the pieces are all falling together on offense. They just need the, they need the defense to like come together quickly. And it's, it's been better. Yeah. Over the last like month or so. And obviously they drafted Aiden Hutchinson first overall last year. You know, they got some guys on that defense.

Jeff Okuda's like coming around. So again, if all those pieces fall into place too, we could be looking at a really good team, like a surprisingly good team. I mean, I think that's the compelling thing about investing on defense, right? Is that it's not like they're a blank slate where it's like, God, you just don't have any players, you got to put something into this. Like they've got Hutchinson, Okuda, Malcolm Rodriguez, Kirby Joseph

like there are there are pieces already on that defense that you feel like okay we've got some we've got some some players checked off we've got some roles

that are filled but you know Hutchinson's been pretty good I don't know that he's been like overwhelming right but like one or two more impact guys plus just a little bit of development

since they're young and all of a sudden you might be cooking Right. Maybe in a pretty good spot. And it's funny when you go through, you know, okay, a lot of running backs who are going to be hitting free agency, they could build that way at that position.

Because they're already pretty good there. The offensive line is good. All of a sudden, it starts to look like the best Rams teams that Jared Gough was part of. Like, it's really not that different. It's kind of the same formula. I mean, it makes sense, right? Because Brad Holmes is the one who's doing all of this.

but you start to look at it and go like, I don't know how to feel about this because it's the situation that the Rams, when they were in it, eventually were like, yeah, no, we've seen it off. They spent a lot to get out of it. Well, that's the difference, though, is like, he's already there.

They're not married to him for the super long term. They can kind of get out of that contract over time versus, like, they're like, we cannot do this anymore. Plus, I think they got, you know, the siren song of like the upside that Stafford brought, I think got to them. And of course, he won in a Super Bowl, so, like, you can't really knock him for that.

But it's not always, like, the grass is always greener with quarterbacks. We've seen that happen for multiple teams in soft season, where you bring in new quarterbacks and, like, it just doesn't work out the way you're thinking it was going to work out. So, you know, the Rams are, it's a really funny comparison because, like you said, Brad Holmes in the front office now, he's just kind of, like, recreating. He's going back to the playbook that they had over there and trying to make it work out. Obviously, I think he's been a huge sport of Goff, so it makes it feel like this is a little more

likely to actually happen this way. And so, yeah, I don't know. I just think it's a fascinating time in the NFL now, especially with, I think teams like going more to like balance, run the ball, physicality, punch you in the mouth. That's like the lions in a nutshell, right? And so I guess just overall putting less emphasis on having the league quarterback and just doing everything else well, is kind of a fascinating case study. Yeah, I mean, it's wild, right? Because the story of last off-season was, I think, ultimately, what San Francisco and the Rams had done,

basically both being like, you know what, we got, I don't mean last off-season, I mean two off-season ago, but basically just being like, we have to get better. We have to, we have to, yeah. We've already been to pretty high highs, but they have to get higher. like this isn't good enough. And going to some pretty great lengths in order to do that.

And the results that, I mean, look, like the Brams won a friggin' Super Bowl. They do it 20 times over. Sure. But there's a reason that draft pick right now is number four. Like, the fall has been severe. And that's not disconnected from the fact that they took a really, really, really big swing. And then obviously, we'll see what happens. happens with Trey Lance, but like, that hasn't been, that hasn't worked out. I think it's fair to

say that that hasn't worked out so far. People already talking about bringing Jimmy G. back again next year, you know? Right. Right. The guy, like, they always come back is maybe the answer. Right. I think your point about Brad Holmes, though, is, I'm having more trouble figuring out if I think this would be a good idea than figuring out if I think that the Lions will do this. I have to be honest with you, the more than we talk about it, like, given his history, I don't think he's going anywhere. Now, I can see them, like,

I can see them trying to, trying to thread the needle with a quarterback and the draft or somebody who needs development. But, like, I think Jared Goff's going to be on the lines next year. And is at very least going to be in a genuine competition

to be the start. I mean, look, if he's on the roster, he's counting 30 million against the cap, unless he can get something worked out with them. So he's probably starting if he's there. But he's at least got a very real chance of being the guy. I think when you think about what they would actually be likely to do. I haven't talked to any... I haven't talked to any Lions fans about how they feel about golf.

I mean, I can guess most of them probably just want a replacement ASAP. And my argument is more just like, just let the process play out for a little bit longer. Don't panic. Don't panic at the Cuban position when you're getting such good production out of that offense anyway. And sync those resources into something, you know, on the defensive side of the ball. Again, nothing is ever certain. Like, you could draft a defensive player and he could be a bust. But just from a team building point of view, like, to me, that just feels like a better option for 2020, 23, 2024 versus like sort of resetting

the clock and starting with a rookie quarterback and like probably having to go through all those rookie struggles like most of the time that's what we see from rookies. The two like unanswered questions in this that I would kill to be able to be a fly on the wall in their building to figure out how this plays into the thinking is one, Ben Johnson. Right. What do you need to do to keep him? Is that realistic? Does he need to, you know, does he be the head coach?

Are they going to have to fire Dan Campbell to keep him? Right. Is the question. And then two, somewhat related. is how do they see what's happened with Goff suddenly throwing way fewer picks? Because he had nine in the first games. Three of them were returned for touchdowns. Those were really, really, really costly.

Obviously, part of why the Rams got rid of him was his last three seasons there were double-digit interception years. Over the last six games, though, he's only turned the ball over once. So the interception percentage has dropped from 2.8 to 0.5. And that, whether that's something that they view as sustainable, if he changed something, if he's responding to coaching, if they're seeing something and how he's reading defenses click, if that was the result of a process that they have some understanding of and therefore reason to believe it,

it should be sticky. I think that would matter a lot because it's not, you know, it's six games, right? It's a month and a half. It doesn't feel like it's quite been long enough to be like, Jared Goff, who's been a pretty high turnover guy

suddenly doesn't do this anymore. Because if he doesn't, then he's probably in that like Barapolo zone, right? Where you're worried about what happens if you don't have good protection. but he's not going to make a ton of mistakes and he knows how to execute your offense and he's steady and reliable

and you're going to be efficient and you're going to put up some numbers if the other pieces around him are good. If he's flinging it to the other team with relative regularity, you negate a lot of... It's against what you're trying to do, 100%. Right.

Yeah, I don't know. He did it so much for the first part of the season And then he's done it so little. And I just would love to know what they think about that because this is a good streak. And the next streak is just as likely to be a bad streak. I think if you think of it in that way, then you think of him as a player in a very different way. If you think of this as the result of like a real change, it's different. I think with him it's always going to be, well, number one, you always have to take a little bit of the bad with the good because he's just not an elite quarterback.

Like he's not going to all of a sudden turn into, you know, like a. top level quarterback. So you have to like go in with those expectations, but also like, and again, to me, one of the big stories of the season has really been just like the state of quarterback play in the NFL, you know, just, it's been really bad.

Like, if you have an elite quarterback on your team, like, congratulations, because most of the league is dealing with like subpar quarterback play, like right now. And so to me, this is more, it's almost just like, look, it's not great, but like it could be worse kind of deal with God. And so, and again, like, I looked at all the numbers.

Like, the numbers are pretty incredible across the season, like top 10 in almost every important category. He is, like, Garapolo going to throw a head-scratching pick here and there. And that's just something that you've got to live with you cannot expect him to be perfect. But yeah, maybe they figured out a way to kind of, like, mitigate some of his, his bad tendencies. And the other thing I would say is, like, just watching and play, like, when he was doing well for the Rams, he was playing with a lot of confidence. he was letting it rip.

He was pushing the ball downfield. He never was like the most talented physically, but like he was willing and able to push the ball down the field. When he started going bad with Rams, it looked like he truly just lost all his confidence. Like he just, you know what I mean? Like he just looked like he was completely...

Yeah, well, and McVeigh had like so much angst and regret over, like, destroying him as a man. Just piece by piece. Yeah. But like, I don't know. I just remember watching him and just, just being like, he has absolutely zero confidence in what he's seeing and in his willingness to push the ball into coverage, like thread the needle.

Like, I mean, I just like, it's crazy how he kind of like fell from grace. There's a time there when that offense was like the most fun offense to watch in the NFL, like, period. And so there is a, of course, I don't think that Jerg Gough is coming back. But I do think he's probably better than he was like in the end of his Rams tenure. That's a low bar, of course. But like, you know what I mean? I just feel like he's somewhere in the middle.

as like a serviceable starter, you know? And I know that that sounds terrible probably to Lions fans. But like they just look at what the Jets are doing with Zach Wilson. Like he, you know, came in a second overall pick. People were comparing him to like Mahomes, comparing him to Aaron Rogers, like elite arm talent, you know, and it took them a year and a half, two years to figure out that they're just better off using like Mike White or Joe Flacco.

And so there's always that risk. Of course, you know, if you go the other way, of course, you could have the next Mahomes. But just what I've seen of this draft bus, I just feel like that would probably be more prudent in their current situation because they're set up to like, they're just a piece of here or two away

from like, I think being a pretty good team, having the development on some of these young guys, you know, I just don't want them to reset the clock, I guess. And if the Vikings, look, if you can see it, right? The Bears still don't look like a complete roster for as exciting as their offense is then. still a lot of questions about Fields is a pure passer. The Vikings,

God, how many times are we going to say Vikings and regression in the same sentence next year? Don't say the fraud. Don't say fraud. Do not say fraud. Whatever you do. I didn't, Danny. Don't say fraudulent because they're not frauds. Well, and then speaking of Aaron Rogers.

Yeah. And it's like Walter Payton nominee for whatever that counts for. Like videos in the locker room. They're all hugging him. Like everybody loves Jared. This is like so similar to the Garoppolo thing, I feel like. Everybody loves Jimmy G. Why do we get this new guy?

Just bring Jimmy G back. Jimmy is like. Jimmy is incredibly likable though because Jimmy, this is my entire thesis of Jimmy Garoppolo. He's just never mad. Like he's just never. like every quarterback is like upset about things all the time except for Jimmy Garoppolo. Jimmy Garapolo like does not remember his third grade teacher who didn't believe him.

It's not a chip on his shoulder. They're all making lists of all of their enemies and Jimmy's just like, that's fine. Everything's good. My life is pretty good. It's really commendable. I'm thankful, really. How are we talking about Jimmy Garoppel? Danny.

Yes. Man. I really am thinking about this. hard because what I feel strongly is that the Rams, I did it again. Third time to turn. The lions are going to do this. I really, I think Jared Goff is a lion next year. The first domino has to be what they do with offense coordinator.

Because I do feel like if Ben Johnson leaves, there's a chance I just completely backtrack off this take. You know what I mean? Like, to me that's the first domino that needs to fall for this. You're going to abandon the. island. Yeah, I'm going to have to like set out on like a raft or whatever. Like yeah, you'll be like, you'll be like Tom Hanks and castaway. Yes.

Well sad. Um, I'm on the island. All right. I'm on the island with you, Danny. I think now. Along with three or four lions fans probably. Yeah. Just, just, just, just so that we're doing the right amount of qualification here. Right. It's not Jared Goff is the quarterback of the future. It's not Jared Goff as the new franchise quarterback. Jared Goff forever, Jared for president. But I think that they should try to just the thing that was most compelling that you said was just like, just be patient. Let it come to you because unless a certain domino in the draft if it happens, although part of this is I just don't really see it, see how it could,

like how there could be somebody at four who's going to make you better in the short term there for them but if somebody in free agency just seems like a really perfect fit and there's good logic behind that like maybe but feeling the immediate need to get substantially better

when everything is already going pretty well I think the last you know 10 months of football going on full year once we get through and see what happens in the playoffs, obviously, has taught us that there's real danger to that. And things are going pretty well with this offense right now. Obviously, the coordinator deserves a lot of credit. We'll see what happens there.

But the defense has pieces to build around. And again, exactly, as you said, the division is ripe for the taking. You know how meaningful, like, a couple of playoff appearances, maybe one little run, one little scamper for the lions would be for those fans? And that seems really realistic. That seems really reasonable when you think about what they could do if this offense keeps producing the way that it has been. Now, the reason I think the chief danger there is sort of the complacency of, okay, we've got Jared. We're making it work with Jared.

That means Jared's our guy is one. That is how we see teams hand him a bunch of money that they later regret. Do not re-sign him, yes. Yeah. Careful. That's not what I'm saying. Yeah. The other thing is that I, you know,

I think we know enough about this guy to know that the fact that he's well protected is really significant in why this is all working. And either you have to just make part of your strategy that you have to continually invest in offensive line and keep the ground game really stable. Either that has to be a big part of your strategy and you have to execute, which is easier said than done. Or I think at some point they have to be looking on the horizon

for, okay, can we get someone who has a little bit more mobility? Because in the NFL right now, I just think you need it. And I think if the protection slipped, we would start to see that so, so, so fast. So keep Jared Gough, but like keep looking. Well, yeah, and I mean,

where I land. maybe they go for one of a like a second round quarterback this year. You know, there's a chance Hendon Hooker will be there in the second round. He just towards ACL, so he's probably not going to be ready to go right away. Anyway, he's got some mobility. He's got a big arm. I think he could probably run the type of offense that they want to run. Maybe that's an option for them.

So, you know, I guess my main thing is just like don't get, don't get desperate. Don't make a big swing at quarterback when the quarterback. Sorry, the offense is not the problem right now. like it's the defense. So I'm not saying settle for Jared Goff for the long term, but maybe just in the short term. But settle for Jared Goff for the short term. Maybe just appreciate what you got right now.

That's what I'm saying. Wow. The grass isn't always greener. That's really beautiful, Danny. This has been the island on the Ringer NFL show feed. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you again, Danny, to joining us this week on the program and blessing us with your Jared Goff take. Yeah.

And it's probably going to be terrible this week. but that's fine. We will be back next week, but for now, Shield Capadia will be up next on the feed tomorrow going in-depth on NFL news on the scramble. Thank you, as always,

to Stefan Anderson for production on this episode and to Connor Nevins and our Juno Ramgapal for additional production supervision.