3 stats that show how much Justin Herbert is doing on his own

The Los Angeles Chargers are currently 10-4 with a top defense and quarterback combo that has led them to this point.

The QB in question, Justin Herbert, has been a notoriously exhausting debate from different fanbases if he is "good" or "elite" or if he is "bad". As a designated Chargers fan, let's discuss a few stats that show how little help Herbert has around him.

3 stats that show how much Justin Herbert is doing on his own

Run & Pass Block Rankings - Weeks 1-15

When thinking of a functional offense outside the quarterback, a good run game and a strong pass protection unit are crucial. Well, the Chargers do not have either.

Well that sucks pic.twitter.com/c1Vnig1MPV
— Tyler Schoon (@tylerjschoon) December 17, 2025

The Chargers are below the likes of the Browns, Raiders, Saints, Bengals, Titans, etc in both run block and pass blocking composite rankings. Yet, Herbert, the quarterback with a broken hand, has still been able to "will" his way to enough offense to yield ten wins. A league-worst offensive line in multiple phases of offense is an embarassment for a "trench-first" team.

Justin Herbert leads the league in nearly every category of creation, as his structure is not good enough

According to NextGenStats, going into Week 16, the Bolts QB leads the league in passing touchdowns when under pressure (T-1st, 9 TDs), when outside of the pocket (9 TDs), when scrambling (T-1st, 5 TDs) and when on the run (9 TDs).

Justin Herbert leads the NFL in pass touchdowns…

…under pressure (9, tied).
…outside the pocket (9).
…on scrambles (5, tied).
…on the run (9).@NextGenStats X @Chargers | #BoltUp
— NFL Researcher (@NFL_Researcher) December 17, 2025

This is indicative of how poor his offensive playcalling is. Greg Roman, the offensive coordinator, who described his offense as "not a Burger King offense" is really coming close to lying, considering how little the scheme does for his star QB.

To get points on the board, Herbert, more than anyone else, has to do something different than the play called. No easy built-in checkdowns, no easy short routes with spacing that warrants true space for receivers, no designed screens, etc.

Herbert leads the league in sacks taken...and not even a quarter of them are his fault

As mentioned above, the Chargers offensive line is absolutely struggling this season. Of course, a plethora of injuries has helped to achieve these results; however, the offensive scheme issue above also compounds the issue.

Sacks could be a quarterback issue as well, as some QBs prefer to hold the ball and risk a sack in hopes of getting the ball off for a big play. With that in mind, how many of Justin Herbert's league- leading (!) amount of sacks are actually on him?

Four quarterbacks are responsible for 60%+ of their sacks:

Josh Allen
Aaron Rodgers
Dillon Gabriel
Kirk Cousins pic.twitter.com/IoZQI6cHlj
— Steven Patton (@PattonAnalytics) December 18, 2025

The graph above ranks Herbert 8th best out of 42 listed quarterbacks, for sacks that are his fault. What is even more impressive is that his high ranking of not creating sacks is not due to a lucky low-volume amount of pressure. He is being sacked at the highest rate in the league, and yet is still minimizing at a high-level, a top-10 level.

The moral of the story is more than just a singular quarterback game, with plenty of nuance needed to be involved when discussing who is better than who. Herbert's season is a perfect encapsulation of such.

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