Who Should I Start? Colt McCoy or Jared Goff

Monday, August 19, 11:54 AM

Former NFL quarterback Colt McCoy has announced his retirement and will join NBC Sports for its Big Ten college football coverage. McCoy, a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist during his college career at Texas, set an NCAA Division I record with 45 career wins as a four-year starter from 2006 to 2009. He led the Longhorns to the BCS National Championship game in 2010, capping off a perfect 12-0 regular season with a Big 12 title. Drafted in the third round by the Cleveland Browns in 2010, McCoy amassed an 11-25 record over his 36 NFL starts. His final NFL stint was with the Arizona Cardinals in 2023, where he played in two preseason games before being released due to elbow issues. Over his career, McCoy also played for the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, San Francisco 49ers, and Cleveland Browns, finishing with 7,975 passing yards, 34 touchdowns, and 32 interceptions in 56 games.

Friday, December 19, 8:25 PM

Across 14 games this season, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff has completed 69.3% of his passes for 3,672 yards, 29 touchdowns, and five interceptions. The 31-year-old has thrown for at least 255 yards in seven straight games and has topped 300 passing yards in each of his last two contests. With the Lions' defense struggling, Goff has been forced into more pass-heavy game scripts in the second half of the season. After attempting more than 29 passes in just one of Detroit's first seven games, he's thrown fewer than 33 passes in the team's last seven games. Goff and the Lions have a favorable matchup on paper in Week 16 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Entering Sunday, Pittsburgh ranks 29th in the NFL in passing yards allowed (3,649). The Steelers' pass rush also looks a little less fearsome this week, as star edge rusher T.J. Watt (lung) will miss a second straight game while recovering from surgery to repair a collapsed lung. Given his recent pass volume trends and the opponent, Goff profiles as a low-end fantasy QB1 in Week 16.