Ranking Cal QBs After Cowherd Again Touts Jared Goff as a Hall of Famer

TV sports pundit Colin Cowherd received criticism for claiming earlier this week that former Cal quarterback Jared Goff will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, so Cowherd doubled down on that opinion on Friday.

Cowherd again insisted that Goff will be a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection, providing a variety of statistics and data to support his opinion. Goff had never been mentioned as a potential Hall of Fame selection before Cowherd’s rants, but this elevated perception of Goff from a respected commentator leads to discussion of where Goff ranks alltime among NFL quarterbacks from Cal, a task we will undertake in a moment.

I don’t always agree with Colin, but him doubling down on JG is gold.

JARED GOFF, will be a hall-of-famer 👏🏼pic.twitter.com/s8md7Gwpsy
— Natalie Sparbeck (@NatSparbeck) October 10, 2025

One significant point is that Goff was 2-0 in career games against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs heading into Sunday night’s Lions-Chiefs matchup. Goff outplayed Mahomes in 2018 when Goff was with the Rams, and he outplayed Mahomes again in a Lions’’ victory in 2023.

However, Mahomes and the Chiefs turned the tables on Goff on Sunday, beating the Lions 30-17 as Mahomes outplayed Goff in their third meeting..

Perhaps the most persuasive Cowherd argument for Goff is the comparison of the Goff and Matthew Statistics since the two were traded for each other. Even though Stafford joined a Rams team that had already established itself as a playoff-ready team while Goff went to a Lions team that had been lousy for years, Goff’s numbers are better than Stafford’s since the trade.

Colin Cowherd Goff-Stafford stats | Colin Cowherd twitter

Stafford is considered a borderline Hall of Fame contender, so what does that make Goff?

Well, at least it makes Goff one of the top NFL quarterbacks ever to come out of Cal.

Five such former Cal quarterbacks deserve consideration in the ranking of ex-Cal quarterbacks. Vince Ferragamo is not considered since he spent his final college season at Nebraska after starting at Cal.

Here are our top five NFL QBs from Cal:

No. 5. Steve Bartkowski

The No. 1 overall pick in the 1975 NFL draft, Bartkowski played 12 NFL season, mostly for the talent-challenged Atlanta Falcons. He was named to the Pro Bowl twice, and finished third in the MVP voting in 1980. But his team had a winning record in only two seasons.

No. 4. Joe Kapp

The inspirational leader of the Minnesota Vikings, Kapp finished second in the MVP voting in 1969, when he led the Vikings to the NFL title and a berth in the Super Bowl before losing to the AFL-champion Chiefs.

Kapp had an outstanding career in the Canadian Football League, but 1969 was his only impressive season in the NFL.

No. 3 Craig Morton

Morton played 18 NFL seasons, and although most of them were of pedestrian quality, he had three outstanding seasons. He led the Dallas Cowboys to the Super Bowl (and lost) in the 1977 season, and he finished second in the NFL MVP voting in 1970, when he guided the Broncos to the Super Bowl (and lost again).

Then, in 1981, at the age of 38, Morton finished fourth in MVP voting after going 10-5 as a starter for the Broncos.

No. 2. Jared Goff

Goff finished fifth in the MVP voting in 2024, but that was the only time in his 10-year NFL career that Goff received any MVP votes.

He was selected to four Pro Bowls, and has been the player most responsible for the Lions’ rise from mediocrity to Super Bowl contender the past two seasons.

Entering Sunday’s action this season, Goff led the NFL in completion percentage, touchdown passes and touchdown-to-interception margin, and he was second in the NFL in passer rating. That should not change a great deal after Sunday's games, because, despite the Lions' loss to the Chiefs, Goff put up pretty good numbers: 23-for-29 for 205 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 118.8 passer rating.

No. 1 Aaron Rodgers

The No. 1 spot was an easy selection. Rodgers has been named MVP four times, more than any player except Peyton Manning, who won it five times. Rodgers won a Super Bowl in the 2020 season and is among the best quarterbacks in the NFL history. He will be voted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility – whenever that is.

He continues to play at an elite level at age 41. Rodgers had another efficient performance on Sunday, completing 21-of-30 passes for 235 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 115.3 passe rating in Pittsburgh’s 23-9 victory over the Browns to help the Steelers to improve to 4-1.

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