Is Justin Herbert's return enough to save the Chargers' offense?

LOS ANGELES — Justin Herbert is the Los Angeles Chargers‘ most valuable asset.

The $260 million quarterback’s skill played a significant role in luring coach Jim Harbaugh to the Chargers, who, since taking the job, has often described his amazement at Harbaugh’s 6-foot-6, 235-pound frame along with the ease at which he picked apart defenses during his career.

Harbaugh was even impressed at Herbert’s leadership while a group of Chargers was stuck in an elevator for two hours in Dallas one night before the team’s final preseason game.

“As each person came off the elevator, sweating and some had the shirt off. Justin Herbert, his hair was a little wet. But his shirt was completely dry,” Harbaugh said. “That was another thing that blew me away.”

One of Herbert’s strengths has been his durability. He had the second-longest active streak of games started by a QB with 62 before a right index finger fracture ended his season in Week 14 of last year. At training camp, Herbert looked like his old self, running and throwing for touchdowns, but on August 1st, the team announced that he had a plantar fascia injury in his right foot. The injury put Herbert in a walking boot for two weeks, but the team expects him to be ready for Week 1 against the Las Vegas Raiders (Sunday, Sept. 8, 4:05 p.m. ET).

Even with the Chargers offense having new starters at receivers, running back, tight end, and tackle, Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman dismissed any concerns about how the time off the field would impact the offense’s chemistry.

Instead, the concern quickly became about Herbert’s backups, who were Easton Stick, Casey Bauman, and Max Duggan at the time of his injury. In the two weeks Herbert was sidelined the Chargers offense was dreadful, forcing Hortiz and Harbaugh to reshuffle the QB room. Life without Herbert was a stark reminder of how important he is to this team and raised questions about how prepared the Chargers are to stay afloat if Herbert’s injury lingers into the regular season.

“I don’t think we’re in a position to be comfortable,” Harbaugh said about the team’s backup quarterbacks after the Chargers first preseason game. “… I don’t think anybody on the offensive side of the ball would be happy with that.”

With Herbert out of practice, the Chargers’ defense dominated, forcing errant throws, pass breakups, and interceptions. Harbaugh didn’t hide his dissatisfaction with the quarterback play. On Aug. 6, four days before the Chargers’ first preseason game, the team signed former UFL quarterback Luis Perez, which Harbaugh said was a “message” to backups Duggan and Bauman to “step up the game.”

The Chargers released Bauman and Duggan within two weeks. Still, Stick and Perez struggled.

The Chargers didn’t score a touchdown through their first two preseason games. Stick’s struggles were perhaps the most surprising given his six years of NFL experience.

Stick started the Chargers’ final four games last season with Herbert out with an injury. The Chargers lost all of those games, but Stick was formidable with an injury-laden group, and it earned him a contract from a new staff.

In the Chargers’ three preseason games, however, Stick finished 25-for-55 with 303 passing yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Perez was 18-for-32 with 139 passing yards and no touchdowns.

“Once the ball snaps, I can’t play like Justin,” Stick said days after Herbert’s injury. “There are very few people in the world that can do what Justin Herbert does.”

When Herbert returned to practice on Aug. 19, the Chargers offense looked like a different group. He picked apart the Chargers’ previously stingy defense and sparked what was perhaps wide receiver Quentin Johnston‘s best week of camp.

Harbaugh was elated, telling reporters, “Music should be playing; I thought I heard music, voices of angels maybe,” on Herbert’s first day back. Cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. agreed, saying, “It’s definitely a difference going up against one of the best quarterbacks in the game right now.”

“It’s fun. He can make throws a lot of guys can’t make. He made a throw today where I don’t know what you do with a defender,” safety AJ Finley said. “But having him back out there, it is great. It keeps you on your toes. If you’re one step off here, he’s going to make that throw.”

Herbert is one of the primary reasons many players believe the Chargers (5-12 in 2023) have a shot at contending this season. For the Chargers to do so, Herbert will have to elevate an inexperienced receiving group, which the Chargers believe he is capable of, and his stats support that.

Herbert averages 277.8 passing yards per game in his career, the third-most in NFL history (min. 50 games played). Herbert’s 17,223 passing yards are the most in a player’s first four seasons, and he ranks top seven in QBR in the fourth quarter, on 3rd down, and under pressure out of 36 qualifying QBs since entering the league in 2020.

Still, Herbert has made the playoffs just once in his four seasons, losing in a historic meltdown loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023. The Chargers are hopeful that Harbaugh coaches Herbert to another level, as he has with many other quarterbacks that played under him.

“He’s unbelievable,” defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said of Herbert, after Herbert dominated the defense at a practice. “…He’s so smart, and I think he has a chance to have a magical year for us.”