The Los Angeles Chargers always seem to find ways to disappoint and frustrate their fans, as they struggled with injuries all season long and blew a 27-0 lead in the wild-card playoff round against the Jacksonville Jaguars, losing by one point.
One of the injuries they dealt with was a rib ailment suffered by quarterback Justin Herbert early in the season, but despite being in pain for a good deal of the schedule, he played in all 17 games and put up some nice numbers.
Chargers defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day says that Herbert is one of the three or four best QBs in the NFL, and he lauded the signal-caller’s toughness.
I believe Justin [Herbert] is a top 3, top 4 quarterback in this league…” – Sebastian Joseph-Day
📺: @FanDuelTV | @heykayadams | @SJD_51 | @chargers pic.twitter.com/X4UiG4Bm16
—Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) February 15, 2023
Statistically, it was a bit of a down year for Herbert, as he threw just 25 touchdown passes, which was down from 38 in 2021.
Some of that may be attributed to LA’s injuries, which included aids that forced wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams to miss seven and four games, respectively.
But there is no doubt that Herbert is an absolute stud.
Two years ago, he set an NFL record for most touchdown passes by a rookie with 31, and at 6-foot-6 and nearly 240 pounds, he almost seems like a bionic man with a rocket launcher arm at times.
Unfortunately, the Chargers did not take advantage of his strengths, as they didn’t play much of a vertical game, which led to many fans criticizing head coach Brandon Staley and offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi.
Management responded by firing Lombardi and replacing him with Kellen Moore, who had success as the Dallas Cowboys’ offensive coordinator over the last four years.
Perhaps with good health and even the addition of a speed threat at wideout, the Chargers can finally start to tap into their true potential in 2023.
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