One Play Highlights Vast Difference Between Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford
Supporters of the Detroit Lions are heavily invested in who is playing under center.
For the past 12 seasons, fans witnessed a quarterback in Matthew Stafford who possessed all-world arm strength.
Despite now playing for another franchise, Lions supporters will still be invested in how Stafford performs with the Los Angeles Rams, due to the extra first-round draft choices the Lions possess following the Stafford trade.
Early in training camp, the vast differences have been quickly observed between Stafford and Detroit's new quarterback Jared Goff.
While Goff does not possess similar arm talent to Stafford, he relies on his craftiness and his ability to look off defenders in order to be effective.
During seven-on-seven drills, Goff highlighted what he can bring to the table, as he zipped the ball to rookie wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown for a touchdown, after moving off the single-high safety in coverage.
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One play in particular did highlight the vast differences between the two former No. 1 overall picks.
During an 11-on-11 period, Goff rolled to his left off of a play fake, forcing him to make a decision between two wideouts.
Both decisions required Goff to throw across his body. Wideouts Kalif Raymond and Breshad Perriman both came open, but Perriman had beaten his defender and was running deep up the sideline.
Raymond was approximately 10 yards up field and heading towards the sideline. Goff made the decision to throw it to Raymond, but ended up throwing it behind him for an incompletion.
According to The Athletic, "Stafford throws the deep ball there probably 99 times out of 100. Goff targeted Raymond instead, then threw it behind him a bit so it fell incomplete. There’s just a difference in mentality, and that’s assuming Goff even has the arm strength to hit a receiver in stride 50-plus yards deep while going against the grain."
No doubt, Stafford would have launched it. It was his bread and butter, but ultimately, also his biggest downfall, due to turnovers at inopportune times.
Even though Lions head coach Dan Campbell and Goff have stated that he enjoys throwing it downfield, the 26-year-old quarterback will likely play it safe, especially when the safer option underneath is available.
