Well we'll see what Detroit's thought process is. I know what my thought process is......
He's played 6 years in an NFL offense (I don't count year 1) with 2 different teams and has suffered 1 losing season.
He's had three 4400 yard seasons and 32, 29 and 28 TDs. Not to mention some pretty awesome individual games over the years. Elite? Maybe not but how many "Elite" QBs have played in the NFL in the last 10 years or so?
Sometimes expectations are so high.....for 1st overall picks......some can't see the forest for the trees. I think he's been one of the good 1st overalls in a while. Of course Winston, Mayfield, etc might make it seem that way.
Goff has played for two offenses which were face down on the floor-- the Rams in 2017 and the Lions in 2022-- and taken them to Top 5 in the NFL. It's not a coincidence.
Goff played arguably his best ball in 2022 and is clearly still getting better. He helped turn a bunch of guys in Detroit that no one had heard of into a serious, powerful, highly functioning offensive force-- the 5th highest scoring team in the league. If Lions had not had the 29th ranked defense last year they would have easily won 12 or more games and likely been the team no one wanted to play in the playoffs.
No one here saw this coming. But Brad Holmes was willing to stake his future as the new GM in Detroit on trading for Goff. It has paid off for him. Holmes is now recognized as one of the top GMs in the NFL, deservedly so.
Goff has been and still is widely underestimated, not least on this board, and given little or no credit for what has been an outstanding career. Most QBs get too much credit and too much blame for what is actually a team sport. Not so with Goff-- he gets all the blame and none of the credit.
But it will be fun to see what Goff can accomplish going forward in Detroit.