How does McDaniel get the most out of Herbert?
Mike Florio and Chris Simms discuss how Mike McDaniel can get the best out of Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert as the new offensive coordinator for Jim Harbaugh.
Video Transcript
You don't need to hide your excitement.
I'm excited, you're excited.
Let's be excited together.
hit it.
Mike McDaniel never change.
We're not gonna hear from him as much as we did last year, and, that's because he's no longer the head coach of the Dolphins.
But he's got a very critical job with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Year seven for Justin Herbert- Mm-hmm and the challenge is to get more out of him.
And the narrative for some is that he's never had enough help around him.
Yeah.
I think there are others who are starting to say it's a Justin Herbert problem.
Mm-hmm.
At some point, you transcend the help around you.
At some point, you thrive even without a high-end supporting cast.
That at some point it's about you.
Yeah.
It's not about the flaws around you.
And with Jim Harbaugh so over the top in his praise of Justin Herbert, I think that makes people Human nature.
Yes.
They're inclined to say- Yeah "Hey, hey, hey, come on.
This guy isn't-" Yeah, I'm not sure we can fight back.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, he's never won a playoff game.
Mm-hmm.
So now you bring in Mike McDaniel, who was able to get great performances at times out of Tua Tagovailoa- Totally with timing, rhythm, quick throws.
And there was an item on ESPN.com over the weekend that tracked the stats for Justin Herbert based upon the amount of time to throw the ball.
Yeah.
He's got the best stats when he's holding onto the ball- Got time for more than three and a half seconds.
Yes.
Machine, throwing the ball.
Less than 2.4 seconds, the stats aren't great.
Yeah.
So a lot of what we know McDaniels will do is come up with plays- Mm-hmm schemes, quick decisions, get rid of the ball quickly- Totally and improve your performance there.
And once that starts happening and you're gashing them for 10, 15 yards, that's as good as having a great running game that draws safety to the line of scrimmage.
It's gonna You know, you do a quick pump and then you, you, you roll out.
And he's got the, he's got the, the skill set, unlike Tua, to run away- Totally buy time- Yeah extend the play, and hit a guy down the field.
Yeah.
He's got incredible talent.
He's got Hall of Fame-type talent.
The, the He's a, he's a hell of a player.
Now, yeah, he's been to the playoffs three times and he hasn't played well in any of those games yet.
Now, he played really good defenses and teams that were better than him, I would say all three times too.
So, you know, there, there is that.
But yes, for how he's talked and viewed and for his talent that he is, yes, it hasn't lived up to the expectations of the normal everyday fan.
Now, I would sit here and be one that would second and go, "Yeah, he hasn't had enough help."
Who's been there that's really that special?
Tell me.
Okay?
Not only just on the offensive side of the ball, but again, when your offense isn't that good, who else can pick you up?
We saw Patrick Mahomes two years in a row, the Chiefs, when they went to play the 49ers and, and beat them the second time in the Super Bowl, and then the second, the second Eagles matchup where they lost.
Those years, Patrick Mahomes wasn't lighting up the, the planet on the offensive side of the ball.
He was clutch late in games, but what else did they have?
They, didn't help him on offense.
They weren't that good.
But what they did have was the best defense in football.
So Justin Herbert's never had either one of those things you can really talk about.
Yeah, his defense was really good last year, but I think it was more coaching.
I don't think anybody was like, "Oh my gosh."
Who, who's the big star on the defensive line?
Who's the big secondary star?
Okay, there's Derwin James.
Most people can't name more than one or two people on the Chargers' defense.
Most people wouldn't have been able to name, and many offensive players there too.
So that's where you're excited about Herbert, is to me, this is the first time since his rookie year he's really with a big-time offensive mind.
His rookie year, he's with Shane Steichen, and he took, he took, you know, took off, and we were all like, "Oh my gosh, he's incredible."
But since then, it's been a mishmash and no real quarterback offensive geniuses, and this'll be his first time, other than Shane Steichen, back with a guy of that nature to where, like you're talking about, he's gonna make life easier for him.
Justin Herbert was pressured and hit more last year than any quarterback in the history of the NFL.
Do people know that?
I mean, damn.
I mean, their offensive line was decimated, and they still got in the playoffs.
I mean, he got hit more than anybody last year, it wasn't even close.
So yeah, they gotta help him.
Could he be a little better in some clutch moments?
No doubt about that.
I get that totally.
but I think Mike McDaniels, to your point, is gonna be able to make life easier on him, and we're gonna see a big year from Justin Herbert
