Bolt Beat
Fansided

LA Chargers: Is Justin Herbert a lock for ROTY? Analyzing his chances

By Alexander Insdorf

TAMPA, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 04: The helmet worn by Justin Herbert #10 of the Los Angeles Chargers reads "Black Lives Matter" during the third quarter of a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on October 04, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 04: The helmet worn by Justin Herbert #10 of the Los Angeles Chargers reads "Black Lives Matter" during the third quarter of a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on October 04, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) – LA Chargers Justin Herbert
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) – LA Chargers Justin Herbert /

LA Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert currently tops most sportsbooks’ betting odds for 2020 NFL Rookie of the Year.

Joe Burrow led the odds for the 2020 ROTY award for most of the season. Over the last two weeks though, Justin Herbert has become a comprehensive favorite. Via The Action Network, Herbert’s odds are as low as +125 for the award. Following his performance against the Saints, he ticked up into the lead. Burrow is still up there though, currently as low as +180.

Following some amazingly great performances, Justin Jefferson has vaulted into the third best odds. While the award is likely going to one of the two top 10 quarterback draft picks, +700 might not be a bad bet if Jefferson keeps up his current pace. Of course, that also requires believing in Kirk Cousins to consistently get him the ball.

There are a few other candidates that I’ll cover in this article, bur let’s start with the man of the hour himself:

Justin Herbert

While Herbert is the clear rookie of the year favorite, it would only take one or two bad games from him for momentum to sway in the favor of Burrow or possibly Jefferson. Luckily for the former Oregon quarterback, he has a nice stretch of upcoming games to take advantage of, at least in comparison to the other candidates.

The Chargers next five games will be against the Jaguars, Broncos, Raiders, Dolphins, and Jets. Los Angeles may not win all of those games, but it’s hard to see Herbert playing poorly in any of them. Defensively speaking, the Broncos would be the only team that could be scary. Plus, the Chargers have a history of not dealing with Denver’s home field advantage well.

The narrative that Herbert hasn’t gotten a win yet will fall in that five game stretch. He’ll rack up the numbers and stats that he needs for the award as well. However, the ROTY race is far from over, as Herbert is not a lock until the odds become more drastic in his favor. As for Herbert’s main challenger for the award…

Home/Justin Herbert