LA Chargers: Grading how the new quarterbacks fit with the top receivers
By Tyler Gallagher
How well do the new LA Chargers quarterbacks fit with the receiving corps?
For years, LA Chargers fans have been lucky to see the ultra-talented Philip Rivers air out deep bombs to his favorite tall, deep-specialist receivers such as Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd.
We have also seen Rivers do excellent with top-level possession receivers such as Antonio Gates and Keenan Allen.
But now, we get the pleasure (or perhaps the pain) of watching the Chargers offense revolutionize with a new group of quarterbacks with new skillsets.
Tyrod Taylor is known for being an elusive runner who has the ability to throw on the move outside of the pocket. His offenses have traditionally been fairly conservative, where he has made the majority of his money throwing short passes on planned routes.
However, Taylor has the talent to go off-script and does well with smart receivers that know how to get open when the play breaks down. Also, while he has rarely been asked to use the ability, Taylor has good accuracy on deep throws.
In rookie Justin Herbert, the Chargers have a quarterback with elite arm strength and talent. He will need to work on having more consistent accuracy, but Herbert has the ability to work well with deep receivers.
Similarly to Taylor, Herbert does well when throwing on the run and on designed short plays. However, he is more likely to benefit from veteran receivers that know how to create separation.
The skillset that Herbert has will be important in future decision making when the Chargers have important receivers (such as Mike Williams) come up for an extension. In the short term, matching skillsets between Tyrod Taylor and the Chargers’ current receivers will likely impact the performance of both Taylor and each receiver.
For that reason, it is interesting to analyze the compatibility and level of skill of each quarterback-receiver duo on the LA Chargers roster. In the following pages, I rate the compatibility of each duo and explain the reason for that grade.