With the sixth pick in the 2020 NFL draft, the Los Angeles Chargers select __________.
Only time will tell what the Chargers do with that pick, but with selecting that high, they will have a slew of players to choose from, including their potential future signal-caller.
With the season over, mock drafts are really starting to kick into overdrive. There’s been a select few that have been linked to Los Angeles. Among the crop is Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert.
Herbert, the Eugene native started eight games in his freshman and sophomore campaign before starting the full 13-game slate the past two seasons.
Since joining the Ducks, Herbert has had three head coaches and offensive coordinators, as well as two major scheme changes. Throughout it all, he has still maintained a high draft stock the past two seasons.
Herbert was thought to be a possible No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2019 NFL draft, but he passed up on a hefty paycheck to play a full season with his little brother, to lead the program to the Rose Bowl and to finish school, in which he ended up with 4.01 GPA in general science.
For his efforts, Herbert won the 2019 Campbell Trophy, which awards a collegiate athlete for their combination of on-field accolades, charitable endeavors and academics.
During his four-year stint, Herbert amassed 10,403 passing yards, 95 touchdowns, 22 interceptions and completed 63.9% of his passes.
With the emergence of LSU’s Joe Burrow and heavy popularity of Tua Tagovailoa throughout the year, Herbert drifted away from the national spotlight, yet continued to be scrutinized on a daily basis.
While he is flawed like any other quarterback prospect, Herbert has all the traits, abilities and a ceiling so high that he could successfully be the future face of the Chargers.
When you look at Herbert, he looks like he was created in a video game. Standing at 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds, he has a physically imposing frame like none other in this class.
Big body equates to a big arm for Herbert. His deep ball is placed in stride of his intended receivers to create an explosive play.
He has the ability to push the ball downfield with little effort and nice zip on the ball, making every throw required as an NFL quarterback, even when he has to throw out of the pocket.
Oregon’s offense requires a lot of screens and quick slants, which helped Herbert’s completion percentage. He is pretty consistent with his mid-range accuracy, showing the ability to fit the football into tight windows.
Herbert benefited from having one of the league’s best offensive lines in the nation. But that’s not to say pressure never occurred. When that came, he showed adequate mobility and the ability to rip a tight spiral with top end acceleration into small windows on the move.
When being pressured from the inside, Herbert does an excellent job setting his feet, taking a hit, and delivering a phenomenal ball without hardly any rotation in his hips. In those cases, it shows the superb arm strength that he has.
Though appearing to be reckless at times, Herbert can be a fun creator when under duress.
While he didn’t run the ball that much in 2019, he was a huge threat with his legs in 2018, showing the burst to outrun defenders and pick up first downs.
We know that Herbert is an intelligent person in the classroom. That football IQ shows on the field, as he is very well aware of what is happening around him.
While there are a lot of positives to his game, there are still areas that draw some concern.
Herbert misses open receivers on occasion, most noticeably when under duress, as his internal clock gets sped up and his mechanics become sloppy, which causes the ball to sail or be under thrown.
Herbert has the tendency to lose discipline in his eyes and rely on his arm to fit throws into areas that do not present themselves as open.
With Oregon’s offense, it primarily required Herbert to make one read, which got him in trouble at least once or twice in each game. When Herbert gets into an NFL offense, eye discipline is an area that will be heavily addressed to ensure he gets caught up to full field progressions.
Going back to when he became a highly touted prospect, Herbert was criticized as a guy that wouldn’t be able to effectively lead a locker room because he is soft spoken and comes off as reserved.
Herbert may never be an outspoken team player whose actions invoke constant attention in the media. But Herbert is a humble and driven leader, putting all of his time and effort into being the best he can be and getting his team in the most ideal position to win.
Offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo gave Herbert the book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Arroyo’s wife is a psychologist, and she marked specific sections of the book she thought would be helpful to Herbert. Along with that, he isn’t on any social media to avoid what he calls “unneeded attention” and the negativity, per SI’s Kalyn Kahler.
Would it be preferred if Herbert was more vocal? Sure. However, his character and qualities off the field are ones that can still really benefit a team environment.
Off the field, Herbert is even seen making an impact. In 2018, he went out of the country to prepare and eat meals with the impoverished youth, as well as build playgrounds for them.
There is a narrative that Herbert is not worth being taken in the first-round, often being compared to Ryan Leaf with no evidence that suggests that. However, that can be the case for any team that’s taking a signal-caller early in the draft.
Players like Bills’ Josh Allen and Giants’ Daniel Jones were sought out as “projects” by the media during the pre-draft process. But they were taken in the top-10 because both teams saw the potential in the players.
There is always an extreme risk when drafting any quarterback if you expect them to be the centerpiece of your offense for years to come. But the risks could pay huge dividends, especially with Herbert, considering the special physical talent that he has.
The bottom line is that Herbert is a physical specimen, who has the base skillset, traits and tools to become the franchise quarterback of the Chargers. The area of his game that gets scrutinized the most is primarily mental, which is something that could quickly be addressed when he gets to the league.
With Los Angeles, he would be put into a system where he would be able to utilize his skills in the short passing game with Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson, use his legs and most importantly, his generational arm that he possesses to feed wide receivers Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and tight end Hunter Henry.
Herbert may not be ready to start Week 1, as he needs to develop better processing skills and reaction to pressure, but he wouldn’t have to since either Philip Rivers or Tyrod Taylor project as the starting quarterback to open up the 2020 season.
Picking in the top-10 for the third time in the past 15 years, this is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of drafting that high to select the heir to Rivers, and Herbert would be the most ideal candidate to take the throne.
With some polish, his talent and special traits could take him a long way to possibly become an All-Pro quarterback for the Chargers for years to come.
