Few quarterbacks have experienced as much individual success through their first three seasons as Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers. Herbert set rookie records for completions and touchdowns, as well as passing yards per game and was named Offensive Rookie of the Year. He took a step forward in Year 2, increasing his touchdown rate and yards per attempt average while cutting his sack rate. His progress stalled a bit in Year 3, though, as the Chargers worked through a cavalcade of skill-position and offensive line injuries and their system retreated into a shell.
That Year 3 performance is why the Chargers moved on from offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and hired Kellen Moore, previously of the Dallas Cowboys. In the two years Moore had a healthy Dak Prescott, his offense led the NFL in total yards, and the Cowboys finished top-six in scoring in each season where Prescott played at least six games. Moore knows he has a foundation on which to build with Herbert, and he's not looking to reinvent the wheel.
"I think that's one big part of this thing, is that there's been a lot of success," Moore said, per the Chargers' official website. "Justin has had a lot of success his first few years. We want to make sure we build off of that and not start from scratch."
To aid Moore in building on what Herbert has done to date, the Chargers used their first-round pick on former TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnston, a 6-4, 215-pound receiver who is at his best with the ball in his hands. For that, Moore is appreciative of head coach Brandon Staley's willingness to use draft picks on the opposite side of the ball from the one he coaches.
"Brandon [Staley] is this defensive guy and he's drafting these offensive guys, I like this," Moore said. "It's a lot of fun. Q [Johnston] really stood out for us as we went through the process. Everyone kind of sees the measurables, the size as far as the height and the weight. What he did for TCU from his versatility, I thought, was really, really special. His ability to kind of catch-and-run, he was a fly-sweep guy. He got the ball in a lot of different ways. You saw a lot of versatility in his game that maybe, initially, someone may not have necessarily anticipated. We were really excited that he was there and available for us."
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Perhaps most encouragingly, Moore specifically noted how Johnston and fourth-round pick Derius Davis can help the Chargers stretch the field.
"There's a vertical element of it that we're really excited about," he said. "With Q [Johnston], just the size, catch radius. He goes up and gets the ball downfield. You can do it however you need to do it, whether it's size, catch radius, speed. He definitely brings a vertical element to us. Derius [Davis], obviously, the kick return and punt return component of it, and then he just has straight-up natural speed that's very rare in this league. Only a handful of teams have those type of things."
Los Angeles far too often operated in condensed space the past two years under Lombardi. Herbert has one of the strongest arms in football, yet he ranked just 31st out of 33 qualifying quarterbacks in air yards per attempt last year, according to Tru Media. Prescott
