Over the last few weeks, slandering Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has become an unfortunate cottage sub-industry that tells us a lot about what’s wrong with the business of sports talk disguised as analysis. Those who have decided that Herbert has not unlocked that mythical “next level” required of all “elite” quarterbacks would like us to know that they have gone beyond the highlight plays, and revealed the soft underbelly that tells us the truth.
At that moment, their analysis is not about Justin Herbert at all — it’s all about the guy making noise. When Emmanuel Acho insists that Herbert is just a “social media quarterback” (i.e., capable of a few highlight plays, and a whole bunch of meh around them), and when other, more respected analysts charry-pick stats without the benefit of tape to ostensibly bring us a deeper, greater, truth? You are now watching the World Series of Woolgathering, as opposed to anything relevant or true. Acho has now recorded a “Social Media Freestyle” to triple down on his alleged analysis… so again, this is just a few people attaching themselves to Herbert as if they were pilot fish. This isn’t legitimate analysis.
Even if you want to perform a mea culpa now, it’s still going to be all about you. Justin Herbert is your innocent bystander.
If we want to get into the reality of where Herbert is at this point in his career, well, let’s do that. Because the evidence is pretty clear that Herbert, in his third NFL season, is playing the position about as well as anybody could in his circumstances. Other top-tier quarterbacks (and yes, Herbert is just that) have receivers who can gain separation. They have offensive lines that are at least functional, for the most part. They have offensive play-callers who aren’t actively working against their attributes.
Right now, Herbert has none of those things. But he is still the quarterback you want — the quarterback you win because of, not the one you win with or in spite of. He is transcendent, because he keeps transcending all the little disasters around him, and if you can’t see that (probably because you’re not looking on purpose), I don’t know what to tell you.
With that, let’s take ourselves out of the equation, and take a good look at where Justin Herbert is right now. Stats and tape and nothing else.
We promise.