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I posted a couple long posts about Justin Herbert right after the draft, giving the Oregon fan's perspective on why he had a chance to be really good and why the experts who doubted him were getting it wrong. So I was certainly among those who expected him to be a good NFL starting quarterback, but even so, his play so far this season has blown me away. I thought he could be this guy, but never would have thought he'd look BETTER in the NFL than he did against top college competition this quickly. In my previous posts, I referenced two of the three key things that I see as answering how he is playing this well, this fast, but I also wanted to add one more.
1. His situation at Oregon was by far the worst of the top three quarterbacks. The conservative coaching, simplistic passing scheme and poor receiver play made him look much more inconsistent and less dominant than he really was.
2. He has actually significantly improved his footwork and mechanics since he left Oregon with legit quarterback coaching. He never did the QB camp circuit or had a personal quarterback coach or any of the extra coaching that top groomed quarterbacks all over the country routinely have these days. Working with quarterback coach John Beck during the pre-draft and offseason, followed by intense tutelage from Pep Hamilton once he was with the Chargers has made a huge difference. The reason this intensive work has made such a dramatic difference in Herbert's consistent accuracy (largely due to footwork and cleaning up mechanics) is that he'd never had that sort of coaching before and he therefore had a chance at some rapid and explosive growth.
3. Until this year, he had never devoted all of his considerable talent and intellect toward football. This is not to say that he wasn't dedicated before. As I mentioned in a previous post, he was the guy organizing summer workouts and was the unquestioned offensive leader of those Oregon teams his last two seasons, but he also was extremely committed to success in the classroom. You don't get a 4.0 in Biology without putting in the hours and the energy. That's at least 20+ hours a week devoted to intense mental work outside of football. Even going back to high school, Herbert was a three sport athlete, shining as an elite pitcher in baseball and a key player on his high school hoops squad. He has spent his life being well rounded and being successful at nearly every challenge he has taken on. Focusing those diverse talents on one goal, becoming the best NFL quarterback he can be, is clearly paying dividends and has helped him accelerate his learning curve beyond what almost anyone thought was possible (particularly with this low rep offseason).
There are probably other factors beyond these that help answer this question, but the great thing about the things above is that they point to a player with plenty of growth still in front of him. I can't wait to see this team start stringing together some W's after the bye.
1. His situation at Oregon was by far the worst of the top three quarterbacks. The conservative coaching, simplistic passing scheme and poor receiver play made him look much more inconsistent and less dominant than he really was.
2. He has actually significantly improved his footwork and mechanics since he left Oregon with legit quarterback coaching. He never did the QB camp circuit or had a personal quarterback coach or any of the extra coaching that top groomed quarterbacks all over the country routinely have these days. Working with quarterback coach John Beck during the pre-draft and offseason, followed by intense tutelage from Pep Hamilton once he was with the Chargers has made a huge difference. The reason this intensive work has made such a dramatic difference in Herbert's consistent accuracy (largely due to footwork and cleaning up mechanics) is that he'd never had that sort of coaching before and he therefore had a chance at some rapid and explosive growth.
3. Until this year, he had never devoted all of his considerable talent and intellect toward football. This is not to say that he wasn't dedicated before. As I mentioned in a previous post, he was the guy organizing summer workouts and was the unquestioned offensive leader of those Oregon teams his last two seasons, but he also was extremely committed to success in the classroom. You don't get a 4.0 in Biology without putting in the hours and the energy. That's at least 20+ hours a week devoted to intense mental work outside of football. Even going back to high school, Herbert was a three sport athlete, shining as an elite pitcher in baseball and a key player on his high school hoops squad. He has spent his life being well rounded and being successful at nearly every challenge he has taken on. Focusing those diverse talents on one goal, becoming the best NFL quarterback he can be, is clearly paying dividends and has helped him accelerate his learning curve beyond what almost anyone thought was possible (particularly with this low rep offseason).
There are probably other factors beyond these that help answer this question, but the great thing about the things above is that they point to a player with plenty of growth still in front of him. I can't wait to see this team start stringing together some W's after the bye.
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