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Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has clearly established himself as one of the top-shelf QBs in the NFL early in his career. As a rookie, he set the NFL record for passing touchdowns and completions by a first-year quarterback at the time, and he has since been the constant driving force for a Chargers offense that hasn't always given him the best chances to succeed.
Despite all of his talent and individual success, Herbert's career has been marred by constant injuries and games where he is hit hard over and over again. His career is beginning to show some similarities to that of Andrew Luck, who retired early at the age of 29 years old due to injuries. Fans are worried that if the Chargers can't protect Herbert the same way that the Colts failed to protect Luck, the former Oregon star may be headed for a similar fate.
The injuries have been piling up for Herbert over the past few years. In 2022, he fractured his rib cartilage during a Thursday night game in Kansas City. He played through the injury for the rest of the season, but clearly wasn't right after that.
During the 2023 season, Herbert fractured fingers on both of his hands during the course of the season. In Week 4, his hand got stuck in a defender's helmet during an interception return, breaking his middle finger on his left hand. However, he didn't miss any time, and instead wore a bulky splint to keep the finger protected. Later that season, he broke his index finger on a big hit against the Broncos, which kept him out for the final four games of the season with the Chargers out of playoff contention.
This year hasn't been any better in that regard. Herbert dealt with a plantar fascia injury in his right foot during training camp, but was able to recover in time to be back for Week 1. However, in the Chargers' Week 2 win against the Carolina Panthers, Herbert suffered a high ankle sprain after being rolled up on in the pocket.
Despite the injury clearly hampering Herbert's ability to slither and slide around in the pocket — taking away one of his most valuable and rare skills — and eliminating the QB run game from the Chargers' offense, he continued to play. He left Los Angeles' Week 3 loss to the Steelers after re-injuring his ankle, leading many to believe that he would miss the Week 4 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs before a bye week.
That inclination got even stronger after it became apparent that both of the Chargers' starting tackles, Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, were going to miss the game against a Chiefs team that loves to get after the quarterback. However, Herbert still gutted it out, and while he didn't seem to re-aggravate his injury, he was pressured 15 times and hit on nine occasions.
As far as building around Herbert to protect him, the Jim Harbaugh regime seems like it is much more capable of doing that than the Brandon Staley/Tom Telesco group was. Harbaugh is well aware that protecting his franchise quarterback is the No. 1 priority. The decision to draft Alt at No. 5 overall last spring instead of a wide receiver like Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze sent a clear message that Harbaugh wanted to build this team through the trenches.
The scheme that the Chargers are now running also relies less on Herbert to stand in the pocket and take hits in the straight drop back game. Harbaugh and Greg Roman have established the running game as central to the Chargers' identity, which takes some of the burden off of Herbert's shoulders.
The next step to protecting Herbert is getting him some more receiving talent. While the Alt pick looks like a great one — the former Notre Dame standout looks like one of the elite tackles in football already — the departures of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams have left Los Angeles without any receiving talent. Herbert's only two targets to eclipse 100 receiving yards through four games are rookie Ladd McConkey and 2023 first-round pick Quentin Johnston. If the Chargers can add some better talent on the outside, Herbert wouldn't have to hold onto the ball so long and would have a go-to target. That could help keep the star quarterback upright long-term.
