Herbert struggles mightily in Week 1 loss

The injury, sustained during the Bolts’ Week 4 loss to the Seahawks, will cost Slater between four and six weeks, Rapoport said. It’s yet another massive blow for the struggling Chargers offense. Through Week 4 the Chargers rank 30th in ESPN’s pass blocking win rate and fifth in run blocking win rate. Justin Herbert’s weekly prospects take a hit with the oft-injured Slate sidelined, as do the prospects of LA’s pass catchers.

It really wasn’t this close. Herbert and Sam Darnold became the first quarterbacks since 1991 to throw interceptions on their first throws of their game. Things didn’t get less weird, nor less shaky for the now 0-4 Chargers. He threw both his picks to linebackers, and outside of a 26-yard scramble, there just wasn’t much there from a quarterback who had (much) loftier expectations coming into the year. His only touchdown was a flip to Kimani Vidal that left Los Angeles down two scores. There’s a lot of football left, but this is ugly. Herbert will try and get going in Week 5, but the Broncos make for a tough team to get that ship righted.

It’s hard to write these quotes without sounding “clicky,” but Harbaugh was forthright at his Monday press conference when asked about Herbert’s decision-making. “Be better. Be better,” Harbaugh said before attempting to soften the blow. “And that drives Justin, that drives me, that drives his position coach, that drives (OC Mike [McDaniel). I mean, drives us all.” Harbaugh also said the team could look to simplify McDaniel’s complex scheme. “As far as the scheme going forward, all options are open,” Harbaugh claimed. When asked what that might entail, the coach responded “run, pass, up the middle, motion, no motion.” Alrighty then. It’s shocking to hear a coach talk this frankly — especially Harbaugh about Herbert — but the situation really is that dire in Los Angeles. Herbert is in the crossfire, but it could be McDaniel who is on something of a hot seat with his play-calling. Sitting at 0-3, the Chargers face the unwelcome prospect of a “must win” Week 4 contest against defending Super Bowl champion Seattle, itself coming off a rough loss. We will be benching Herbert in fantasy for that one.

On one hand, Herbert was under constant pressure in this game behind a beat-up offensive line and was able to evade pressure regularly and extend plays. On the other hand, he really wasn’t able to get anything going down the field. His one touchdown “pass” was on a handoff where he essentially let go of the ball and Keaton Mitchell took the “forward pass” into the end zone on a jet sweep. Herbert’s interception was a terrible pass in the end zone when the Chargers were up 13-10 and looking to put the game away. The Bills also dropped two other potential interceptions. Herbert looks pretty firmly like a QB2 here, and it’s hard to get overly excited about playing him next week against the Seahawks.

The Chargers were an uncoordinated mess in this one. They committed loads of procedural penalties on offense, had several drops, and botched multiple handoffs or snaps. Their final penalty was holding in their own end zone, resulting in a safety. David Njoku handed Herbert’s first interception to a defender, but the second pick was all his fault. Herbert fired into a non-existent window on a deep shot and was easily intercepted by the Vegas secondary. Herbert also committed two fumbles, though both were recovered by the Chargers. Sitting at 0-2 with murderer’s row of opponents on deck, something has to change in a hurry for the Chargers. Herbert will shuffle into the QB2 ranks for his Week 3 date with the Bills.

McDaniel said the team has worked diligently on the quick passing game during offseason practices and training camp. McDaniel said he knows Herbert can excel on the “long developing plays” but wants to create more easy drop backs with schemes that “nullify the pass rush” and allow Herbert to get the ball out quickly to his pass catchers. This should lead to plenty of easy-button targets for Ladd McConkey and the team’s tight ends as Quentin Johnston continues operating as Herbert’s primary deep ball guy. Under McDaniel, the Chargers will likely be run-first with a far more efficient passing attack than they had under former OC Greg Roman.

New Chargers OC Mike McDaniel reduced Herbert’s throwing frequency in spring practices in an effort to keep Herbert’s arm fresh later in the season. Herbert is instead focused on adjusting his shotgun footwork according to McDaniel’s unorthodox, yet often successful preferences. According to Rhim, this led to Herbert and his receivers frequently being “just out of sync on timing” in team drills. That said, Rhim believes that this is " an expected part of implementing a new offense but something that will need to improve during training camp.” We agree. This is not overly concerning, but it will be worthwhile to follow up on Herbert’s connection with his pass catchers.

Herbert told Popper that his arm feels “pretty good,” but he “can definitely tell that [he is] heading into Year 7.” Veterans often get rest days, so this is nothing to be alarmed about. New Chargers OC Mike McDaniel recently outlined his plan to bring out the best in Herbert. He expanded on that plan with Popper, saying he believes the Chargers “can create more explosive plays in the short area of the field,” while also mitigating the opposing pass rush. Aligning Herbert’s footwork and release with his receivers’ route timing is key. In the past, Herbert has relied on his arm strength to make tight window throws after watching his pass catchers get open. Now, the 28-year-old quarterback is working on “trusting [his receivers], and just throwing it to a spot and letting them go get it.” If it all comes together, Herbert’s per-play efficiency could increase while his pressure-to-sack rate decreases this season.

McDaniel explained Herbert’s strengths and weaknesses to ESPN’s Kris Rhim, noting that Herbert performs efficiently when he either gets the ball out in under 2.4 seconds or less, or “extends plays and launches it down the field.” However, Herbert’s efficiency decreases as the time to throw reaches three seconds. McDaniel plans to “max out those quick throws,” which was a staple in McDaniel’s Dolphins’ offenses, while also allowing Herbert to extend plays at times. That said, McDaniel does not want to make the offense reliant on Herbert’s ability to go above and beyond. He stopped short of explaining that aspect, but McDaniel’s offenses typically feature an efficient, voluminous run game. We expect that to be the case here as well. Herbert finished as the QB10 last year. He has decent odds of working his way up the QB1 tier this year.

McDaniel was scarce on details — not surprising — but promised to rein in the signal-caller a bit. McDaniel added “I think not relying too heavily on Justin’s ability to do above and beyond I think is critical. ... That’ll be one of the first things that we’ll try to do is take a little off his plate.” Reading between the lines, it’s possible that Herbert will be instructed to run a little less in 2026. He took off a career-high 83 times for 498 yards and two touchdowns. His overall fantasy value will probably remain as it was in 2025 — or improve — due to improved schematics. But we’re hoping the Chargers keep the running plays on the table for fantasy purposes and this does not sound like a team that plans to do that after watching him play the final six weeks of the season with a left hand that was recovering from surgery to repair a fracture.