Lions QB Jared Goff is feeling more comfortable in his second season in OC Ben Johnson's offense. "I think we're able to dial in a little bit more into the details and we're able to tweak things a little bit more as opposed to learning a new offense and really learning the basic stuff," Goff said. "We're able to get into the weeds a little bit and it's been fun." Tim Twentyman notes that Goff has been in "complete command" of the offense this offseason. "Watching him operate at minicamp it's clear he's 100 percent dialed into Johnson's scheme," Twentyman adds. Goff's lack of rushing production caps his fantasy upside. But he finished 10th among QBs in fantasy points last season and is capable of another lower-end QB1 season in 2023.
Lions WR Jameson Williams is one of five players to be suspended for violating the NFL's gambling policy. Williams, along with Lions WR Stanley Berryhill, have been suspended six games. Lions WR Quintez Cephus, Lions S C.J. Moore, and Commanders DE Shaka Toney are suspended indefinitely. We'll see if Williams appeals this ruling, but fantasy drafters should work under the assumption that he'll miss the first six games of the 2023 season. Williams, of course, appeared in just six games as a rookie last year after tearing an ACL in January of 2022. This suspension will make him tough to roster in standard redraft fantasy leagues and just a late-round option in best ball. Williams' absence leaves Amon-Ra St. Brown, Marvin Jones, Josh Reynolds, and Kalif Raymond as Detroit's top 4 WRs. Jones and Reynolds pick up a bit more fantasy appeal with this news.
Update: The Lions released WR Quintez Cephus and S C.J. Moore.
Lions OC Ben Johnson is passing on HC opportunities elsewhere to stick with Detroit for 2023, according to multiple reports. Johnson elected to skip an in-person interview with the Panthers this week, after already talking with the franchise by teleconference. Johnson was viewed as the favorite for the Carolina job and has also interviewed with the Colts and Texans. He instead sticks with an offense that jumped from 25th in scoring and 22nd in yards in 2021 to 5th and 4th, respectively, this season. Detroit also leaped from 29th in Football Outsiders' offensive DVOA to 5th. Johnson's continued presence is undoubtedly good news for QB Jared Goff and other key Lions offensive pieces.
According to Dave Burkett of the Detroit Free Press, Lions HC Dan Campbell "all but confirmed" Monday that QB Jared Goff will remain the starter in 2023. "He's really a perfect fit for what we do and what we ask," Campbell said. The Rams, of course, paid Detroit draft picks (including 2 first-rounders) to swap Matthew Stafford for Goff 2 offseasons ago. Goff didn't do anything impressive across 14 games in his 1st year with the Lions. But he finished this season throwing 324 consecutive passes without an INT. Goff also finished 15th among QBs in fantasy points per game (depending on your format). He has 2 more years on his contract, though each comes with salaries of more than $30 million vs. dead-cap totals of $10 million and then $5 million if he were to get cut, according to Spotrac. Detroit also holds the 6th overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, thanks to the Rams -- along with their own selection at #18. So although Goff looks most likely to open next season at the helm, it's worth noting that Campbell stopped short of actually confirming that the 2023 job belongs to Goff.
Lions QB Jared Goff threw 3 TD passes on 21-of-29 passing for 255 yards in Sunday's lopsided win over the Bears. Goff found TE Brock Wright for a pair of scores, hitting RB D'Andre Swift for the other. He spread targets around, with 10 different Lions catching a pass but none exceeding 5 targets. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown led the team with 5 looks, catching 4 for a team-high 62 yards. It was St. Brown's lowest catch total since Week 9 and fewest targets of any full game this season. Detroit closes the regular season against the Packers, a rematch of a game that finished just 15-9 (in Detroit's favor) in Week 9.
Lions QB Jared Goff threw for 355 yards and 3 TDs in Saturday's loss to Carolina. He hit TE Shane Zylstra for all 3 scores. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, as usual, led the team with 13 targets and 7 catches, tallying 76 yards. WR D.J. Chark added 4 receptions for 108 on 5 targets. No other Lion caught more than 2 balls. Detroit gets a weak Chicago defense in Week 17, and won't have weather concerns back home in the dome.
Lions QB Jared Goff threw for 252 yards and a TD in Sunday's win over the Jets. It's not the kind of outing that's going to win fantasy football matchups, but it marked Goff's 6th straight game without a turnover -- despite a strong defense on the other side. That's enough to put Goff in fantasy consideration against a weaker Carolina defense in Week 16, and certainly for a home date with Chicago in Week 17.
Lions QB Jared Goff delivered 330 yards and 3 TDs in Sunday's win over the Vikings. He found WRs D.J. Chark and Jameson Williams for long scores, each coming from more than 40 yards out. His remaining TD went to WR Josh Reynolds from 5 yards out. It was his 2nd straight 300-yard outing, 3rd straight with multiple TD passes and 5th game in a row with no INTs. A much tougher matchup with the Jets lies in Week 15.
Lions QB Jared Goff threw for 340 yards and 2 TDs on 31-of-41 passing in Sunday's blowout win over the Jaguars. He hit WR Amon-Ra St. Brown for both scores and the largest share of his numbers. But 7 different Lions caught multiple passes. It was Goff's 2nd straight game with 2 TDs but just his 3rd 300-yard game of the year.
Lions WR Jameson Williams (knee) is active for today’s game vs. the Jaguars. The rookie is expected to play limited snaps in his NFL debut, leaving him as an option only as a DFS tournament flier. But Williams does add some upside to QB Jared Goff’s fantasy profile.
Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown racked up 10 catches and 119 yards in Sunday's win over the Bears, on a team-high 11 targets. Detroit's lead receiver drew 42.3% of QB Jared Goff's pass attempts, claimed 52.6% of the team's completions and delivered 50.4% of the receiving yards. WR Kalif Raymond (3) and RB Justin Jackson (2) were the only other Lions to catch multiple passes. Goff finished 19 of 26 for 236 yards, 1 TD and 0 INTs. St. Brown added 1 carry for 2 yards.
Lions QB Jared Goff threw for just 137 yards in Sunday's win over the Packers. He went 14-of-26 passing for the day, with 2 TDs and 1 INT. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown garnered 34.6% of the team's targets (9), catching 4 for 55 yards. RB D'Andre Swift and WR Tom Kennedy tied for 2nd on the team with 4 targets apiece. WR Kalif Raymond caught all 3 of his targets for 17 yards.
The Lions are trading TE T.J. Hockenson to the Vikings, along with a 2023 4th-round pick and a 2024 conditional 4th-round pick, in exchange for a 2023 2nd-round pick and 2024 3rd-round pick, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports. It's surprising for a few reasons, most notably because it's an intra-division trade and involves a former 1st-round pick still on his rookie deal. Hockenson counts just $6.5 million against this year's salary cap and has a $9.3 million 5th-year option for 2023. He's been slightly underwhelming through 3+ NFL seasons considering he was the 8th overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft. But Hockenson's 44.0 receiving yards per game since 2019 rank 10th among TEs. He's averaged a career-best 56.4 yards per game so far this year and ranks 7th among 31 qualifying TEs in Pro Football Focus' 2022 receiving grades. Minnesota is an OK spot for Hockenson's rest-of-season fantasy value. He'll obviously be behind WR Justin Jefferson in the pecking order but could challenge WR Adam Thielen for the #2 spot. And the Vikings have been a pass-leaning offense this year, ranking 7th at 38.0 pass attempts per game. (The Lions rank 15th at 35.7.). Hockenson will face negative fantasy-scoring matchups the next 2 weeks vs. Washington and Buffalo, but the schedule looks nice after that. Detroit, meanwhile, is left with TEs Brock Wright and James Mitchell. Wright is the preferred add but is probably only worth a look in TE-premium leagues like the FFPC. RB D'Andre Swift and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown should pick up more targets with Hockenson gone.
Lions QB Jared Goff tallied 378 yards and 4 TD passes in Sunday's shootout loss to the Seahawks. Detroit trailed by 15+ at 3 different points but rebounded to make it a 48-45 final. Goff found TE T.J. Hockenson for a pair of scores and hit WR Josh Reynolds and RB Justin Jackson with the 2 others. Goff'ffs Week 5 meeting with the Patriots figures to be less favorable. Then comes a Week 6 bye.
The Lions have ruled WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (ankle) out for Sunday's game against the Seahawks. And that's not the only injury at play in this pass-catching corps. TE T.J. Hockenson (foot), WR D.J. Chark (ankle) and Josh Reynolds (ankle) are also dealing with injuries that have cost them practice time this week. Khalif Raymond and Quintez Cephus sit behind that group if any others wind up inactive. HC Dan Campbell also said Friday that RB D'Andre Swift is "probably out" for the game. We'll update official statuses for others as they come out.
Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown racked up 9 catches for 116 yards and 2 TDs in Sunday's win over the Commanders. That marked the 8th straight game in which he secured at least 8 receptions, matching the record held by Michael Thomas and Antonio Brown. In Sunday's game, St. Brown tallied 5 more targets than any other Lion, garnering 35.3% of QB Jared Goff's pass attempts. TE T.J. Hockenson ranked 2nd, with 7 targets, but caught only 3 for 26 yards. Josh Reynolds and D'Andre Swift caught the other 2 of Goff's 4 TD passes in the game. St. Brown is so far vindicating anyone who drafted him this summer.
Lions QB Jared Goff spoke glowingly on 2nd-year WR Amon-Ra St. Brown. "I'm looking for him when things break down, and I'm looking for him when we need a play," Goff said. "Right now, he's that guy. He can take a sweep to the house. At the same time, he understands defense and coverage, and it's so rare for a young player to have that ability. He keeps asking the right questions and understanding what's going on over there. He's going [up]." St. Brown’s ADP has dropped since early in draft season. As the WR32 in FFPC Main Event drafting, he’s now coming at a reasonable price.
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