Thursday open thread: Is Jared Goff really a bottom-5 starting quarterback?

Another draft has come and gone without the Detroit Lions making a change at quarterback. That means that Jared Goff will get another shot leading the team in 2022, hoping to prove that he can at least be an average contributor and lead the revamped offense going forward.

Unsurprisingly, most fans are not in love with this plan, and the national media seems to agree. This week, Pro Football Network released their top 32 quarterback rankings, and Goff landed all the way down at No. 29, directly behind Justin Fields, Davis Mills, Zach Wilson, Daniel Jones, and Carson Wentz, and ahead of only Sam Darnold, Mitch Trubisky, and Drew Lock.

Today’s Question of the Day is:

Is Jared Goff a bottom-five starting quarterback?

My answer: My immediate reaction to this ranking is that it feels extremely harsh. While Goff has lost much of his luster, calling him the fourth-worst starter in the entire league seems like an overreaction. Though Goff ranked 29th per Pro Football Focus as well, he did finish 18th in passer rating and has a better track record than nearly any other quarterback in the bottom 10.

Goff is no longer with Sean McVay (or, as importantly, Todd Gurley), but bringing a team all the way to the Super Bowl still means something. Fields, Mills, Wilson, and Jones might be better in the long run, but they have not proved that yet and there is a difference between actual value and hypothetical potential. The Lions are not going to see Goff turn into a Pro Bowler, but calling him bottom five does not feel fair.

Your turn.