It’s official.
Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert will make his second straight start this Sunday against the Panthers. It was announced that Herbert would start after Tyrod Taylor was ruled out “indefinitely.”
Herbert’s surprise start raised some eyebrows, as the first-round pick passed for 311 yards and two total touchdowns in the overtime loss to the Chiefs last Sunday.
After seeing his performance against the defending Super Bowl champions, Carolina knows not to take Herbert lightly this weekend.
Coach Matt Rhule called Herbert “a special young talent.”
“Justin is a really, really smart guy just from the draft process, has a great arm, can run 4.5, he’s a great athlete, big powerful guy. You watch him in his first start and he goes and plays at a really high level so he’s a special young talent and is a person I have a lot of respect for.”
Taken one pick after Los Angeles, rookie defensive tackle Derrick Brown reiterated what Rhule said, calling Herbert “a very talented guy.”
Brown’s familiar with Herbert because their two former programs, Auburn and Oregon, played each other last year.
What might the Panthers’ defensive game plan look like? Putting the pressure on Herbert.
Defensive coordinator Phil Snow, who said the team was considering drafting Herbert in the 2020 NFL Draft, said that the Chiefs did not blitz him hardly at all last weekend.
“A lot of people don’t blitz this team and they’ve had some issues when they do blitz. They have a lot of screens that can bother you. You look at Kansas City last week, Herbert is in there and they blitzed hardly at all and normally they pressure. Each week is a little different in your approach in when you blitz, so we’ll have to see what their game plan is,” Snow said.