The AFC West bought slightly extra attention-grabbing a few weeks in the past when the Los Angeles Chargers added Jim Harbaugh to the fold, changing Brandon Staley as head coach. That’s not simply from a persona standpoint: The Chargers are expected to look much different on the sector, particularly on offense, which is Harbaugh’s specialty. So, all the reasons are thrown out the window for Justin Herbert.
This isn’t an indictment of Herbert or what he has or hasn’t achieved in his NFL profession. It’s merely a matter of stating the reality. Herbert’s been actually good (even nice, at instances) throughout his first 4 years within the league. His 2023 marketing campaign was shortened by accidents as he performed the fewest video games (13) of his profession. A few of his numbers even slipped to profession lows in passing yards, touchdowns and completion proportion, amongst others.
Nevertheless, we’ll give him a mulligan as almost each quarterback has no less than one yr that’s simply unhealthy, suffering from harm, or each. Over Herbert’s first three seasons, he seemed like the following huge famous person QB on the horizon. In 12 months 1 he set an NFL rookie report by passing for 31 TDs. The following season he chucked 38 TDs and threw for greater than 5,000 yards, however the Chargers narrowly missed the postseason. The ’22 season noticed Herbert throw for fewer TDs and yards, however lower down on the turnovers because the Chargers made the playoffs with 10 wins.
Then that crazy wild-card game against Jacksonville occurred and issues actually went off the rails. A 27-0 lead grew to become a 31-30 loss in what felt like a matter of seconds. However Herbert was spared as he had an honest sport and Staley’s protection was slaughtered for giving up such a lead. Staley would find yourself being the “cause” just about at any time when issues went unsuitable throughout his tenure as head coach of the Chargers.
A lot of the criticism Staley received was honestly earned over the previous three years. That’s why he’s out and Harbaugh is in. This implies Herbert shall be receiving the good thing about the doubt much less typically. If Harbaugh is available in and does what’s anticipated, the Chargers ought to be within the playoffs each season and Herbert ought to constantly be among the many high three or 4 QBs within the league.
Harbaugh will tweak some issues to his liking inside every unit, however this group is able to win. They have already got the prototypical QB the NFL nonetheless fawns over in Herbert with items round him and on protection. We’ve seen Harbaugh take groups with much less proficient QBs and go on wonderful postseason runs. Herbert is an exceptional younger expertise, however these Chargers haven’t been near that degree of success. That’s why Harbaugh is in SoCal, to get these guys over the hump and in rivalry.
But when issues go unsuitable, particularly early on, it received’t be Harbaugh who will get the blame. For the primary time since turning into a professional, it’ll be Herbert receiving the majority of criticism. Nobody expects this group to battle subsequent yr, even in a division with the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, however that is the NFL. The saying ‘on any given Sunday’ exists for a cause. Herbert must do the whole lot inside his energy to make sure he isn’t that “cause.”
