The Detroit Lions have transformed into one of the NFL’s best offensive teams under head coach Dan Campbell. However, one decision that the Lions made six years ago that could have changed their trajectory has just been put under the spotlight again.

On a July 12 episode of Woodward Sports Network’s Crunch Time Sports show, co-host Booner revisited the Lions’ decision to draft Jeff Okudah. And as per him, there was a better option available.

“I think there actually was - I saw a report,” said Boomer. “It was an article that said the Lions actually were considering that year, taking Justin Herbert, and they ended up not doing it.”

In the same Woodward Sports Network’s Crunch Time Sports show, co-host KG mentioned that the Lions were looking at who would be best for the team at that moment.

“Yeah, cause then Matha was like, “Hey, you got to win the house.” So, they chose Okudah,” remarked KG.

At the time of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Lions still had Matthew Stafford as their starting quarterback and believed that he and Justin Herbert would be competing. However, they ended up finishing last in the NFC North with a record of 5-11 and eventually moved on from GM Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia.

Herbert was then selected sixth overall by the Los Angeles Chargers and has since become one of the top quarterbacks in the league, and was named to the Pro Bowl twice. In 2025,

Herbert threw for 3727 passing yards at a pass completion rate of 66.4% and scored 26 touchdowns, helping the Chargers reach the playoffs. 

Throughout his career, Herbert has not had a roster as strong as the Lions under Campbell. It certainly would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Herbert were the starting quarterback for the Lions instead of Jared Goff. 

This mistake seems even more costly since Herbert has been ranked as a better quarterback than Goff.

Herbert ranks above Goff in new ranking of starting quarterbacks

Pro Football Focus’s Dalton Wasserman and Max Chadwick, on July 2, ranked all 32 starting quarterbacks in the league. In their rankings, it was surprising to see the huge gap between the rankings of Herbert and Goff. Herbert was ranked as the seventh-best quarterback in the league while Goff was ranked sixteenth.

Herbert’s 91.2 PFF grade over the last three years and his 91.0 passing grade from a clean pocket ranked him sixth in the league in 2025. Despite a career-low 73.0 PFF passing grade in 2025, Herbert was given the benefit of the doubt due to the Chargers having the second-worst team pass-blocking grade of 50.6.

Meanwhile, they argued that the Lions’ system was a key reason for Goff’s stats being as good as they looked. Goff’s average time to throw of 2.57 seconds, being the second-fastest in the league in 2025, and an EPA on zero-graded throws ranking him second overall with 0.90 per attempt, indicate the same.

Since 2022, Goff has led the league in passing yards with 18,205 and passing touchdowns with 130. Whether Herbert would have done better with the Lions’ offensive line during that time is an interesting question, considering his output over the years.

What are your thoughts on this ranking? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by

Dhruv Vishnu Nair

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi