(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Over the last couple of seasons, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has gone from an upstart rookie to a bona fide star.
At 6-foot-6 and nearly 240 pounds, he is one of the NFL’s most physically imposing quarterbacks, and he seems to have a bionic rocket launcher for a throwing arm.
The question is where exactly Herbert ranks among the league’s best signal-callers.
Pro Football Focus posed the question of whether Herbert is one of the five best players at his position, and it is a polarizing one.
Is Justin Herbert a Top-5 QB? pic.twitter.com/NUhiwgbGd1
— PFF (@PFF) June 26, 2023
Just about everyone would agree that Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Josh Allen are currently the three best quarterbacks in pro football.
Right behind them has to be Jalen Hurts, who led the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl after throwing for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns in the regular season.
Herbert had Hurts beat in both categories, but what probably puts Hurts ahead of Herbert overall is his ability to move the chains with his legs, an ability the Chargers QB doesn’t really possess.
Beyond that, the debate gets interesting.
Is Lamar Jackson, whose production has dipped a bit since his 2019 MVP campaign, better than Herbert?
How about Trevor Lawrence, who roundly outplayed Herbert in the second half of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ stirring comeback win over the Chargers in the Wild Card round of last year’s playoffs?
One big thing Herbert has going for him is that he seems to be clutch, both at the end of games and in third and fourth-down situations.
If rookie wide receiver Quentin Johnston becomes the speed threat L.A. badly needs, perhaps Herbert can break into the top five this fall and winter.
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