Dan Campbell is working hard this offseason, trying to put together another winning squad to repeat what the Detroit Lions have been able to do for the past few seasons and even build on that. Despite the Lions having two historically fantastic seasons, breaking records left and right, they have yet to make it to the big dance, so to speak, and that’s on the mind of Campbell and his staff.
One of the key pieces of the puzzle when it comes to getting the Lions to where they need to be in 2025 is franchise quarterback Jared Goff. During the NFL owners meetings on Tuesday, April 1, Campbell talked about Goff and made an unofficial announcement of sorts.
Jared Goff Will Help Lead the Way for the Detroit Lions
In an interview with Dan Miller of Fox2 earlier this year, new Lions offensive coordinator John Morton mentioned that the offense would be “predicated” on Goff.
“I think it’s big with the quarterback,” Morton said at the time. “Kind of knowing him and when I was here, I was in the quarterback room. I have a feel of what he likes, what he doesn’t. That’s important as a play caller. We’ll continue here when the players come back and stuff, so I’ll get to know more about him and the plays that he really likes a lot and what they’ve been doing good here.”
Appearing at the owner’s meetings on Tuesday, Campbell reiterated that Goff would be even more central to the team’s success this season.
“Growth? Look, he continues to grow every year,” Campbell said. “And I’d say the next step for him — and he knows this every year, like last year, he came to us, everything we wanted him to do in the offense he did. And then he began to bring stuff to us.”
He added, “Hey man, I can see this look. Let me get to this play. I know I’ve got these options in the bag, but let me get to this as well. Those are the things where he’s, ‘OK, here we go man.’ That’s beginning to show. And I would anticipate that to take another step up.”
Dan Campbell Will Have Jared Goff ‘Take More Control’
In an April 3 feature about Campbell’s comments, NFL analyst and expert Brad Berreman of SideLion Report notes, “Dan Campbell expects Jared Goff to take more control of the Lions’ offense.”
“Goff’s play improved when Johnson became offensive coordinator, included him in the planning process and honed in on what he liked and did best,” Berreman added. “Morton won’t be reinventing that wheel, and in concert with that Campbell expects his quarterback to take greater control of the Lions’ offense.”
What’s refreshing is that during his Fox2 interview, Morton said that he basically wasn’t going to fix what wasn’t broken.
“They’ve already established a philosophy here,” Morton said. “It’s just my job to continue the vision of how Dan (Campbell) wants things. We’ll tinker with things here and there, and we’ll see how we can make it better.”
