Chargers Take Justin Herbert, Securing Their QB of the Future
LOS ANGELES -- After months of rumor and subterfuge, the Los Angeles Chargers secured the player they hope can eventually fill the void created by Philip Rivers' departure. On Tuesday, they selected Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
Herbert became the third quarterback off the board Thursday. The Cincinnati Bengals kicked off the draft by taking LSU's Joe Burrow and the Miami Dolphins selected Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa four picks later. It remains unclear how the Chargers graded those signal-callers, but general manager Tom Telesco said that durability ranked "very, very high" on the team's list of priorities in the evaluation process. If true, Los Angeles might not have taken Tagovailoa given the chance.
While Herbert enters the NFL in need of more refinement than the quarterbacks selected ahead of him, he offers tremendous upside. His size (6-foot-6, 236 pounds), arm strength, and athleticism make him one of the most physically gifted prospects to come out at the position this year. That combination of tools makes Herbert a logical choice for the Chargers given their apparent desire to feature more moving pockets, pistol option, and other offensive concepts than they have in the past.
The Chargers obfuscated their interest in selecting a quarterback throughout the offseason. Both head coach Anthony Lynn and general manager Tom Telesco expressed confidence in veteran Tyrod Taylor who the team signed to a multiyear contract last year. Taylor remains the odds-on favorite to begin the season behind center for Los Angeles, but the clock has already begun on his time as the starter following Herbert's selection.
Though the Chargers' need at quarterback ranked atop their long-term concerns, they could have conceivably gone in another direction. The 2020 draft featured several top-shelf tackle prospects, and all but Georgia's Andrew Thomas remained available when Los Angeles came on the clock. Alternatively, the team could have addressed defense by selecting Clemson do-everything playmaker Isaiah Simmons or bolstering the line with South Carolina's Javon Kinlaw or Auburn's Derrick Brown.
In the end, none of those options proved as enticing as landing a potential franchise signal-caller. The Chargers had uncommon security at the sport's most important position over the past two decades, allowing them to completely ignore quarterback in the early rounds of the draft since the 2004 draft-day acquisition of Rivers. Time will tell whether Herbert can extend that period of stability, but his tools and skill set gives him the opportunity to do so.
-- Jason B. Hirschhorn is an award-winning sports journalist and Pro Football Writers of America member. Follow him on Twitter: @by_JBH
