2020 NFL Draft: Putting a letter grade on all 32 first-round picks
6. player. 13. Scouting Report. QB. Oregon. Justin Herbert. Pick Analysis
I understand the appeal of Justin Herbert. He is a big and athletic quarterback prospect who has a strong arm and shows good accuracy most of the time. He has all of the skills needed to be a tremendous quarterback at the next level. That being said, I have some major concerns about his game and I have a hard time believing that he will correct them at the next level.
Herbert played in a one-read offense in college. Most of the time, he was not asked to actually go through progressions and read the entire defense. Instead, Oregon made the decisions easy for him and it allowed him to look good most of the time. That being said, there are no easy decisions in the NFL. Make no mistake about it, Herbert will have to learn how to read the entire field if he is going to have success at the next level.
Related Story. Analyzing Herbert to LAC. light
On top of that, he also struggled when dealing with pressure. Herbert is an incredibly athletic quarterback who can move and make plays on the run, but he just does not seem to be a natural playmaker with the ball in his hands. When he gets pressured, Herbert tends to panic and make bad decisions.
Basically, when it is allowed to stay in the rhythm of the offense, he looks good. If anything does not work out like it is supposed to, it gets ugly. In today’s NFL, quarterbacks must be able to improvise and make plays off-script. Herbert simply has not shown that ability on a consistent basis. There always seems to be at least one quarterback bust and unfortunately, I think Herbert will be that guy for the 2020 NFL Draft class.
I do give the Chargers a bit of credit for locking in and taking their guy, but overall, I am not a fan of this pick.