Despite Jared Goff continuing to produce elite production for the Detroit Lions, one NFL journalist has repeatedly raised major concerns about how heavily his success depends on Detroit’s offensive line.

While speaking on the Blacksmithing Projects YouTube channel, NFL journalist Mina Kimes has again raised concerns about Jared Goff’s performance gap when he plays in a clean pocket versus a pressured environment. 

“We've talked about this a long time over the course of his career,” Kimes again raised similar concerns. “He is a quarterback who there's a pretty big gap between his performance when he's kept clean versus under pressure.”

Kimes highlighted the major difference quarterback Jared Goff has in his performance while playing in the clean pocket. Although the fact is true for every quarterback, she believes that it is more true for Goff. 

His stats back up her claims. While playing in a clean pocket in 2025, Goff has completed 81.8% passes, recorded as the second-highest in the NFL, while scoring 16 touchdowns in just six interceptions on 292 attempts. 

Whereas when he faced pressure while around the pocket, his completion percentage dropped to 52.0% with still six interceptions on 102 attempts. 

A variance of 29.8%, which is huge.

“They know their offensive line needs to get better because of last season,” Kimes added. “I would say it was the single biggest problem with this offense.”

In the last season, the Lions narrowly missed the playoffs with a 9-8 record, ‌the most important issue being the injuries that the O-line suffered. 

Per ESPN, the Lions surrendered 39 sacks, more than ‌ last year, and allowed a much higher pressure rate of 34.4%.

It directly impacted Jared Goff’s mobility in the pocket, which blocked him from doing his thing, but GM Brad Holmes believes that they have fixed the issue ahead of the 2026 season. 

Holmes Continues Building the Roster Around Jared Goff

The Detroit Lions front office is also aware of the reasons about which NFL journalist Mina Kimes is talking about, which GM Brad Holmes has addressed by making the O-line around Jared Goff. 

"I think we have a lot of really good players, but the more competition just brings out even better out of those already good players," Holmes said after the draft. 

The Lions drafted Blake Miller to fill ‌the position of right tackle on the Lions’ roster. With the departure of Taylor Decker, it is being assumed that the Lions will be switching Penei Sewell to ‌left tackle, per Dan Campbell’s 2026 NFL Annual Meeting interview.

To fill ‌the void of the depleting O-line, the Lions signed center Cade Mays from the Carolina Panthers, many analysts believe that it is the best move Holmes made in free agency.

The other moves consist of offensive tackle Larry Borom, guard Ben Bartch, and guard Juice Scruggs. 

Also, players like Brock Wright, Christian Mahogany, and Sam LaPorta will be making their return after fully recovering from last season’s injuries.  

With the new changes on the offensive line around Jared Goff, this will allow him to be present in a clean pocket and do his thing.

Read more at the Detroit Lions Community!

Written by

Kunwar Yashaswee Chhaunker