LA Chargers: 5 overreactions from Week 3 loss to Panthers

Overreaction #2: Hunter Henry has proven that he needs to be extended

One of the few bright spots of Week 3 was the connection that Justin Herbert seemed to share with Hunter Henry.

While Henry’s stats from Week 3 do not jump off the page (caught 5 of 7 targets for 50 yards), it was clear that Justin Herbert looked Henry’s way frequently when he was in trouble or needed a trusted outlet.

Hunter Henry was the third most frequented target by Herbert in Week 3, behind only Keenan Allen and Austin Ekeler. Of his five catches, three came on third downs.

Clearly, Hunter Henry is one of Justin Herbert’s favorite targets. For that reason alone, Hunter Henry needs to be extended.

For a young quarterback to succeed, he needs time to build his confidence with good targets and at least decent blocking. In the past two weeks, Hunter Henry has demonstrated that he is one of the most important targets for Justin Herbert, possibly only behind Keenan Allen and Austin Ekeler, both of whom were already recently extended.

While Henry has not yet proven this season that he can stay healthy for a full 16 games, his connection with Herbert, along with the nature of those past injuries, dictates that he should stay.

As of this point, Henry has not suffered an injury from which he could not make a full recovery. His most serious injury was a torn ACL, which is quite severe, but players frequently make full recoveries with current medical technology.

Beyond this injury, Henry has been plagued by freak injuries, such as a broken bone in his knee and a lacerated kidney, both of which are short-term injuries. With the additional knowledge that Henry is a trusted target of Justin Herbert, the LA Chargers have enough information to know that they need to extend Hunter Henry.

Verdict #2: Not an overreaction