2020 NFL Draft: The game is slowing down for Justin Herbert

The 2020 NFL Draft will have some fascinating young quarterback prospects, and Justin Herbert has a good chance of being the top one off the board.

The 2020 NFL Draft looks like it’s going to be loaded at the quarterback position, and Oregon Ducks star Justin Herbert has a chance to be the best of them all when everything is said and done.

Herbert recently came in at no. 2 on my overall quarterback rankings list, right behind Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama.

Herbert returned to Oregon for his senior season after he could have easily been the top QB off the board in the 2019 NFL Draft. NFL teams were disappointed if not a little bit shocked that he decided to return to school, but it wasn’t entirely surprising considering Herbert had made it known he wanted to play one season with his brother, a freshman four-star tight end prospect who was the number one prospect in the state of Oregon this past year.

Herbert has shined in his return to Eugene, and through his first four games of the 2019 season looks like a different player than we saw even just one season ago.

Stats through four games

• 96-of-129 passing (74.4 percent)
• 1,127 yards
• 14 touchdowns
• 0 interceptions

Herbert is putting up big numbers, and despite an early loss to the Auburn Tigers, he’s looked like an even better prospect as it relates to NFL translatability and the biggest differences I see in his game this year compared to last year include accuracy, ability to read the entire field, anticipating coverage, and just generally that killer instinct.

Not that Herbert hasn’t shown that at times throughout his career at Oregon, but he looks way more confident this year than he has before.

What it looks like to me is that the game has slowed down for Herbert. He’s processing things easier. That doesn’t mean he’s not missing some opportunities but he definitely looks like the game is coming easier to him, he’s comfortable in the offense, he’s spreading the ball around, and he’s setting the defense up to take easy shots downfield.

I’m loving what I’m seeing through four games and can’t wait to see more of this guy in conference play, as well as hopefully some postseason action.