Jared Goff 'Better Quarterback' with Lions Than Rams, Head Coach Dan Campbell Says

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell had some high praise for quarterback Jared Goff on Tuesday, declaring he's a better player now than he was when he led the Los Angeles Rams to a Super Bowl appearance following the 2018 season.

Goff, who was acquired by the Lions in January 2021 as part of the Matthew Stafford trade, led Detroit to its first winning season since 2017 by helping the team to take eight of its final 10 games in 2022 to finish at 9-8. It was a sharp improvement after Detroit went 3-13-1 in its first season with him under center.

"He hung in there and I think what you're seeing is a guy who just put his head down and worked on what he could, tried to improve on what he could, and now his confidence is really, it has grown, and along the way, he's matured as a quarterback," Campbell told reporters. "I mean, he's a better quarterback than he was there in my opinion because he can do more things."

Campbell further explained that he feels the 28-year-old has grown more comfortable with the system in Detroit while also working on his flaws.

"He's mentally on it. We've come light years ahead of where he was two years ago," Campbell continued. "He's got a real good grasp of what we're doing, where the issues are, where the problems are and that's something that we really wanted him to get good at and he wanted to get good at and he's worked at it, and he's improved."

Goff was selected to his third career Pro Bowl after throwing for 4,438 yards with 29 touchdowns against just seven interceptions. Campbell said his production is another example of the growth he's seen since coming over from Los Angeles.

"We ask him to do a lot more in my opinion than what [the Rams] were actually doing out there," Campbell said. "They had a lot of pretty good pieces out there as well as we know. Damn good defense. All those things, but I just feel like, I know from speaking with him and watching him really over the last two years, I just feel like ... we put a lot of things on him where I'm not so sure that was ultimately what they were doing."