Los Angeles Chargers: Offensive line will stunt Justin Herbert development

Issues up front for the Los Angeles Chargers could significantly stunt the development of their young quarterback.

The Los Angeles Chargers have made a major investment in Justin Herbert and he has been put in place to be the franchise quarterback for this team for many years. Sure, Tyrod Taylor will enter 2020 as the starting quarterback, but at some point next season, the Los Angeles Chargers will likely turn to Herbert and hand him the keys to the offense.

There is a lot to like about Herbert’s game. He is an exciting quarterback prospect who has fantastic athleticism for the position, a big arm and flashes incredible accuracy to all fields. Based on raw potential alone, he was undoubtedly worth the sixth overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. That being said, he is far from a perfect quarterback prospect.

Herbert put up great numbers in college, but it did not always look pretty. He played well in the structure of the Oregon offense, but as soon as the play broke down, Herbert struggled to improvise and make plays on his own. In today’s NFL, teams rely on their quarterback to be able to make quick decisions and make plays when things go wrong. Herbert simply does not have that skill at this point in his career.

On top of that, he does not deal with pressure particularly well. When he has a clean pocket to work with, Herbert steps up and fires the ball into his receivers with velocity and accuracy a majority of the time. However, many times when he was faced with pressure, Herbert panicked and was not able to find his receiver. His accuracy significantly dipped against pressure as well.

Basically, Herbert was an absolute star when he was not faced with difficult circumstances in college. That being said, when he was forced to read through his progressions or make plays on the fly, his play slipped. NFL quarterbacks do not see many perfect situations through the course of a season and this is why I question whether Herbert will be successful at the next level, and unfortunately, I do not think he landed in the greatest situation with the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Chargers have some nice offensive playmakers who will undoubtedly be able to help Herbert as soon as he hits the field. However, they have many major questions across their offensive line and if those questions cannot be quickly answered, it could hurt Herbert’s development in a big way.

An offensive line with many questions

It starts with the left tackle position. The Chargers appear ready to go into the 2020 season with second-year offensive tackle Trey Pipkins as their starting left tackle. Pipkins was a third-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft and he entered the league as a developmental player.

Unfortunately, Pipkins was forced into action last season before he was ready. Pipkins struggled in a big way as a rookie and while we can expect him to develop in his second season, he is far from a sure bet to come in and play at a high level at the left tackle position. Left tackle is a major area of concern for this team in 2020.

The Chargers signed Bryan Bulaga this offseason and he will likely be their starting right tackle in 2020. Bulaga is a solid and dependable player at the right tackle position, but he is 31-years-old. His play could start to slip at any time. Bulaga will likely be a solid contributor for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020, but for how much longer?

On the interior, the Chargers are hoping Mike Pouncey comes back strong from his neck injury, but he is far from guaranteed to get back to the same level prior to the injury.

I did like the Chargers trading for Trai Turner over the offseason and he should be a strong contributor for the team at right guard, but they do have an obvious hole at the left guard position. The Chargers are hoping that either Forrest Lamp or Dan Feeney takes the left guard position and runs with it, but neither player has been impressive in their short NFL careers.

Simply put, the Los Angeles Chargers have too many questions on the offensive line to feel comfortable about the unit having consistent success in 2020. There is certainly some upside with this unit, but it seems like they are simply hoping for the best at three of these offensive line positions.

If Herbert had elite pocket presence like Joe Burrow or Tua Tagovailoa, I would not be so worried about him in this situation. However, he consistently struggled when faced with pressure in college and I fully expect him to see a ton of pressure early in his NFL career. Make no mistake about it, these offensive line issues could significantly hurt the development of this young quarterback.