Rankings are always tough to navigate. As objective as people would like them to be, they're inherently rooted in subjectivity, with everyone voicing a differing opinion. Sure, there are the advanced stats, but has that completely replaced the eye test? It's hard to tell anymore.
What's not hard to see is Jared Goff's ascension since arriving at the Detroit Lions back in 2021. The 30-year-old signal caller has reinvented himself in the Motor City. Apart from a rough first season, Goff has displayed the ability to compete at the highest level. He's been a revelation for a Lions offense that's been one of the most explosive over the past couple of seasons.
Goff just recorded arguably his best season of his career: 4,629 passing yards, a career-high 37 touchdowns, a career-high 72.4% completion percentage, and a career-high 15 regular-season wins. Put it all together and you get a fifth-place finish in the MVP voting.
No one's saying that means he's a top-five quarterback, but ESPN's Jeremy Fowler recently released his 2025 QB rankings article, and Goff's eighth-place finish is just as well-deserved as it is confusing.
Jared Goff's QB ranking is both a slap in the face and exactly where he belongs
When speaking with Fowler, one defensive coach had high praise for Goff:
"He's developed into one of the game's best pure passers," a veteran NFC defensive coach said. "He doesn't turn the ball over like he used to. He's a reliable quarterback with a real arm. He's not just a dropback passer who makes s--- happen. He's become more than that."
All of that sounds great. Puts his eighth-place ranking into context. However, it's the players in front of him where the confusion starts to set in.
LA Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert ranked seventh, which just feels... icky. Herbert at seven puts the "off" in Goff. Yes, he has some impressive stats—21,093 passing yards in his first five seasons—but what else has he done? He has an incredibly gifted arm, but a 0-2 playoff record has to pump the brakes a bit. Herbert falls into the eye-test category. He looks like a top-seven QB, but aside from some impressive regular-season stats, there isn't much substance.
Goff should have him beat, but that's subjective.
Then, right in front of Herbert is former Lions QB Matthew Stafford in sixth. Stafford is a great quarterback, but is he truly right now, at this very moment, the sixth-best signal-caller in the league? That's tough. It feels a bit like reputation > recent production. You could make the argument that Goff, right now, is the better player.
And this is exactly where the rankings get even more... subjective. But rankings will be rankings.
Goff’s eighth-place ranking might feel like a slight, or the right spot, or too high, but the whole thing just reflects how far he’s come. He’s not getting the benefit of the doubt some others are, but he’s firmly in the conversation—and that alone says plenty.
Another season like 2024—maybe with an MVP and Super Bowl ring this time—and Goff won’t just move up the rankings. He’ll shut the door on any lingering doubts.
