LA Chargers: Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen named NFL’s third-best duo

The LA Chargers are in a great place in 2021 and beyond as the team struck gold with Justin Herbert. The franchise is going from a future Hall of Famer in Philip Rivers to someone who just had the greatest rookie season in NFL history in Justin Herbert.

Keenan Allen caught hundreds of passes from Rivers and was having a great first season with Herbert as his quarterback. Allen was leading the league in receptions for most of the season and likely would have finished the year on top if he played all 16 games.

Charger fans are extremely excited about the possibility of these two not just in 2021 but beyond, especially with a new offensive scheme brought in by Joe Lombardi. While Justin Herbert has been underrated by certain NFL pundits, the duo of Herbert and Allen certainly has not been underrated.

The LA Chargers duo of Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen is ranked as the third-best duo in the NFL.

CBS Sports ranked all 32 NFL duos ahead of the 2021 season and there are only two teams that were given a better ranking than the LA Chargers. That is extremely complimentary, as the quarterback-receiver duo is one of the most important dynamics for a Super Bowl contender to have.

We should clarify as well that CBS Sports did not just rank the best QB-WR duos, they ranked the best duos, period. There are some exceptional football players that Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen ranked ahead of.

Some quarterback-receiver duos that the Chargers ranked ahead of included Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins, Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf, and Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs. They also ranked ahead of some other explosive offensive duos such as Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas, and Derrick Henry and A.J. Brown.

The one that stuck out the most to me comes from the team that Brandon Staley left. Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey are ranked as the seventh-best duo in the league. Having the duo include a quarterback helps the Chargers, but to be that much higher than Donald and Ramsey is extremely complimentary.

You might be able to predict the two duos that rank ahead of the LA Chargers, although I personally would flip the order. Coming in at no. 2 is the duo of Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill, and really, it could have been Travis Kelce over Hill and it would not have changed a thing.

That is the true no. 1 duo in the league in my opinion but coming in at first in CBS Sports’ ranking is Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams. They are certainly an elite duo, I would put them number two, though.

The fact that Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen only rank behind the two best quarterbacks in the league last season in Mahomes and Rodgers and two of the best receivers in the league in Hill and Adams is extremely telling for the 2021 season.

What does it tell us? To expect plenty of fireworks between the NFL’s third-best duo.