Jared Goff doesn’t need my advice on how he can lead the “San Diego Lions” to Detroit’s first Super Bowl trophy and thus unleash a supernova in the football universe.
Goff, after all, partook in a Super Bowl run with the 2018 Rams, quarterbacked the 2023 Lions to the franchise’s second conference championship game and got a contract sweetener last month worth $113.6 million in fully guaranteed money.
Here goes, anyway.
Goff needs to pull a Tom Brady.
In his case, that means squeezing out more agility and mobility as he moves into his 30s.
If Goff can make a few more athletic plays — resetting and throwing, winging strikes on the move, darting for first downs — the NFL’s least successful franchise of the Super Bowl era stands a better chance of celebrating in February.
Somehow, the 29-year-old Goff must extract a drop or two more of athleticism from a body that’s already served him well as an efficient er and durable performer.
It’s a gnarly request. Unfair, too.
But as Brady knew, it gets tougher to scrounge up incremental improvements high up the NFL mountain, where the Lions now find themselves.
Among the other nine QBs whose teams garner top-10 Super Bowl odds, Goff’s mobility indisputably stands at or near the bottom. Brock Purdy (49ers), Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs), Lamar Jackson (Ravens), C.J. Stroud (Texans), Josh Allen (Bills), Jalen Hurts (Eagles), Joe Burrow (Bengals) and Jordan Love (Packers) are niftier on their feet. Similarly, Dak Prescott (Cowboys) likely rates a slight edge.
Did Brady in fact improve his agility and mobility while in his 30s?
My eyes said yes, having seen Brady age like no other veteran QB I’ve seen.
Well into his 30s, Brady remained a threat on quarterback sneaks, resets and movement. Brady often made fun of his lack of quickness. His mobility brought him negative reviews dating to his college days at Michigan. Observers marveled at the gawky athlete’s 5.17-second 40-yard-dash entering the NFL.
But a secret sauce to Brady’s NFL success was he became more fluid early in his NFL career and improved at creating “hidden gains” on movement plays.
One measure of a QB’s mobility is his yardage per rush each season.
Brady’s posted four of his best seasons in average yards per rush at ages 30, 34, 39 and 44. His rushing success rate in those same four years placed second, fourth, fifth and eighth in his 20-year career. How did Old Man Tom fare in rushing for first downs and touchdowns, respectively? Of the six seasons that yielded 14-plus first downs, four came when Brady was 30 or older. Near the end zone, Brady further defied his age, going for three-plus rushing TDs at ages 34, 38, 42, 43 and 44.
The lone time Brady scooted for four TDs, he was 35.
Should Goff do like Brady and zonk out each night by 9 o’clock, as Brady said he did through much of his career?
Eat more avocado toast?
Sounding out the man himself would be smart, given their similar styles and that Goff entered the NFL with better sprint speed than Brady — 4.82 to 5.17 — and earned C- agility marks at the NFL scouting combine.
“Brady was way ahead of his time,” wrote the Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins about his body maintenance, “in perceiving the evils of an NFL culture based on heavy weightlifting and painkillers and ditching them for a range of unconventional training methods. His elastic, tenacious body is the empirical proof, more convincing than any lab result.”
Goff counts several former San Diegans among his allies to take the Lions two more steps from last year’s 34-31 NFC title game loss against Purdy’s 49ers.
A trio of Lions offensive assistants played or coached at the University of San Diego under Dale Lindsey. New Lions tight end coach Steve Heiden began his NFL career in San Diego as one of Bobby Beathard’s final draftees.
Dave Fipp, who coordinates Lions special teams, is a former La Jolla High School pole vault champion. His mother, Bev, filmed Fipp’s vaults and drove him to USD, a choice locale for workouts.
The Lions understand that in their attempt to return to and win the NFC title game, they’ll need to improve wherever possible.
“I told those guys, ‘This may have been our only shot,’” Lions coach Dan Campbell, whose leadership brings Bruce Bochy to mind, told reporters after the playoff loss Jan. 28. “Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? No. However, I know how hard it is to get here. I’m well aware. And it’s gonna be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year. That’s the reality.”
Looking for a talented NFL underdog to root for this year?
The Lions boast a versatile, sharp blocking unit led by Penei Sewell, their best player.
General manager Brad Holmes’ trade for cornerback Carlton Davis and draft of Nick Saban-coached cornerback Terrion Arnold at No. 24 overall could allow coordinator Aaron Glenn to feature man coverage, a needed development.
The Lions’ depth raises question marks at receiver and edge rusher. But for a franchise whose .418 win rate in the Super Bowl era stands lowest among clubs to play in all 58 of those seasons, the Super Bowl dream has never been so realistic.
