NFL OTAs Offer 3 Small Lessons About Justin Herbert’s Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers have made a few things really clear during this stretch of OTAs and minicamps.

Some of those things might register as controversial. See, for example, the handling of Quentin Johnston. It’s one of the more polarizing things around the Chargers for the fanbase and will be well into the summer.

Other things, like the emphasis on offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, are pretty universally praised.

Here’s a rundown of a few notable lessons provided by the Chargers so far.

All-in on Quentin Johnston

The trade suggestions for AJ Brown were funny. So were the ideas to go get Tyreek Hill. Or Deebo Samuel. Or George Pickens. Or whatever other wide receiver around the NFL who was available, or might be.

All the ideas were in the name of getting Johnston off the field.

But pump the brakes.

The lack of a move by McDaniel to get more serious weapons in the door is a pretty loud endorsement of Johnston. The former first-round pick has had his fair share of drop issues, but if McDaniel likes him, it’s probably best for fans to buy into the idea, too.

Barring a shocker, Johnston is going to be a big piece of the offense at wideout alongside the likes of Ladd McConkey and Tre Harris, if not rookie Brenen Thompson, too.

Chargers in no rush with Jake Slaughter

Jake Slaughter was another polarizing point of the offseason for the Chargers, too.

After years of neglecting the guard spot, the Chargers, naturally, used a high pick investment on Slaughter…a college center.

The Chargers are expecting Slaughter to pick up guard in the NFL and be ready to start when the time comes. But in the meantime, they’re going as slow as possible, with veteran journeyman Kayode Awosika actually working over the rookie with the first-team offense so far.

Los Angeles Chargers receiver Quentin Johnston — Quentin Johnston | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In other words, it’s hard to blame fans who would have preferred the team just take an actual guard who can soak up all of these reps right away.

Mike McDaniel runs the show

Jim Harbaugh is the head coach, but this has been the offseason of McDaniel.

Go ahead and take a look at the list of weapons added for McDaniel to fit his scheme since he arrived:

WR Brenen Thompson
RB Keaton Mitchell
TE Charlie Kolar
TE David Njoku
FB Alec Ingold
G Cole Strange
C Tyler Biadasz

You know a new coach has some serious control when he’s allowed to go out and get a fullback for his scheme in the year 2026.

Oh, and Justin Herbert has shown up for some practices and…not thrown at all. Instead, McDaniel has him working on new footwork in certain scenarios, all with the goal of getting the ball out faster in his system.

The Chargers are all-in on McDaniel, to say the least.

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