These quarterbacks have started at least one game for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). They are listed in order of the date of each player's first start at quarterback for the Lions. Since the beginning of the 2021 season, their starting quarterback has been Jared Goff.
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The early era of the NFL and American football in general was not conducive to passing the football, with the forward pass not being legalized until the early 1900s and not fully adopted for many more years. [1] Although the quarterback position has historically been the one to receive the snap and thus handle the football on every offensive play, [2] the importance of the position during this era was limited by various rules, like having to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage before a forward pass could be attempted. [3] These rules and the tactical focus on rushing the ball limited the importance of the quarterback position while enhancing the value of different types of backs, such as the halfback and the fullback. [4] Some of these backs were considered triple-threat men, capable of rushing, passing or kicking the football, making it common for multiple players to attempt a pass during a game. [5]
As rules changed and the NFL began adopting a more pass-centric approach to offensive football, the importance of the quarterback position grew. [3] [4] Beginning in 1950, total wins and losses by a team's starting quarterback were tracked. [6] Prior to 1950, the Lions had numerous players identified as playing the quarterback position. However, the combination of unreliable statistics in the early era of the NFL and the differences in the early quarterback position make tracking starts by quarterbacks impractical for this timeframe.
