(Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports) – LA Chargers
1. Justin Herbert is dangerous with his legs
We all knew from his college tape that Justin Herbert could use his legs to extend plays and we got our first real taste of that in this game.
The Chargers’ offense has implemented more moving parts and even though Tyrod Taylor is also a mobile quarterback, we did not see them take advantage of that much in Week 1. Taylor would escape the pocket to avoid pressure but did not extend plays (as often) as Herbert did with his legs.
Herbert had a rushing touchdown to kickstart his career and picked up some decent-sized gains on the ground, including a truck stick that left the Chiefs’ player hurt.
There were some learning curves in this aspect. Herbert had an easy first down with his legs late in the game and instead chucked the deep ball and was picked off. Since then, we have already seen Herbert tuck the ball in those situations and pick up the free yardage.
He is learning. And quickly.
You could say that we learned more from this game but I am going to draw the line there. After just one start, it was impossible to say whether or not this would last or if this was just one good game against a Chiefs defense that was gameplanning for Taylor.
We learned much more in the next two games. Here, we learned that the NFL size and speed was not going to be an issue at all for Herbert.