As the Detroit Lions continue their quest to avoid a winless season, they could possibly turn to back-up quarterback Tim Boyle in place of the injured Jared Goff in Week 10.
Goff missed practice on Wednesday with an oblique injury, which puts the starter's status into question against the Cleveland Browns. As a result, the line was taken off the board at sportsbooks, but when it opened back up the line actually dropped. The Browns were as high as an 11-point favorite and were 10.5 at most books before the news. After the announcement, the line dropped to 10 and even 9.5 at some shops (real-time odds here).
The news also coincides with Baker Mayfield telling reporters he's "probably the most beat up" he's ever been in the NFL with multiple injuries.
The Action Network's Travis Reed, who helps power the NFL projections, made no change to his number based on the potential change from Goff to Boyle. Stuckey downgrades the Lions by 1.5 points.
"Difference isn't huge given Goff's (1 TD, 4 INT past five games while averaging fewest air yards any QB) limitations in addition to the nature of the Lions offense," he said. “I’m surprised they're going with Boyle over David Blough — who has at least started albeit poorly — considering Boyle has been on IR since the preseason Boyle does have the livest arm of all three, but this is still a guy with zero career starts and 15 career passing yards”
Now the next question: Who exactly is Tim Boyle?
Boyle spent his first three years of school at Connecticut before transferring to Eastern Kentucky for his final season. He threw 11 touchdowns to 13 interceptions in 12 games while completing 61.5% of his passes his final year.
After going undrafted, Boyle signed with the Green Bay Packers where he spent his first three seasons. However, serving as Aaron Rodgers' backup doesn't present many opportunities. He threw four passes, completing three of them in his three seasons.
The Lions signed him to be the backup this season, but a broken thumb in September sidelined him until this week.
Blough is also on the roster and could see some snaps, but as of Wednesday it's expected the team turns to Boyle if Goff is indeed out.
Goff has thrown just eight touchdown passes on the year with six interceptions. He's averaging 234 yards per game and his 27.3 QBR ranks 33rd in the NFL.
