The quarterback position has never been as important as it is now across the NFL, and the Chargers have secured themselves a true franchise signal-caller in Justin Herbert.
His expert play in his third season as a professional football player helped Los Angeles achieve their first playoff berth since 2018 this season, though the outcome of their Wild Card matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars left something to be desired.
For his part, though, Herbert’s performance was exceptional. Throughout the regular season, he threw for over 4,700 yards and 25 touchdowns while only being intercepted ten times. He was also the team’s third-leading rusher by yardage but could not find the end zone on the ground.
While he might not have lit up the stat sheet as he did in his first two seasons, Herbert still put the team in a position to win weekly, despite dealing with fractured rib cartilage for most of the season, missing multiple starters throughout the year, and being hamstrung by an offensive scheme that did not tailor to his strengths. Nevertheless, Herbert did take a massive leap as a leader of the team and solidified himself as the face of the franchise.
Behind Herbert on Los Angeles’ depth chart is journeyman backup Chase Daniel, who has carved out quite a career since 2010. Daniel did not make a start this season but made four appearances, throwing for 52 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts, mostly in garbage time.
This output from their quarterbacks should enable the Chargers to focus on other areas of their roster in the offseason as they look to assemble a team that can be a legitimate contender in next year’s playoffs.
They will need to extend Herbert at some point shortly to ensure his place in Los Angeles for the long term. Still, outside of that piece of housekeeping, the Chargers are set at the most crucial offensive position except for his backup, which will need to be addressed, given Daniel and Easton Stick are set to be free agents.