For the past four years, Los Angeles Chargers superstar Justin Herbert has made the same type of NFL history, setting the league records for the most passing yards by a quarterback through his first two seasons, three seasons, four seasons, and five seasons.
And assuming the 27-year-old remains healthy during the upcoming 2025 campaign, he'll break the mark for the most passing yards through six seasons, which currently belongs to Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, whose numbers were scarily similar to Herbert's through his first five years with the Indianapolis Colts, by the way.
Justin Herbert is primed to make history yet again
What's wild about Herbert's journey to this point is that after the Bolts made him the sixth overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, he actually didn't enter his rookie season as the team's starting quarterback.
That honor belonged to veteran Tyrod Taylor, who was effectively a placeholder until Herbert was ready to take the reins following the departure of franchise legend Philip Rivers. But after an unfortunate incident following a Week 1 win in which a team doctor accidentally punctured one of Taylor's lungs while administering a painkiller for a rib injury, Herbert was thrust into action and hasn't looked back since.
Over the Chargers' final 15 games of that 2020 season, the Oregon alum threw for a franchise rookie record 4,336 yards, falling just short of the all-time NFL record set in 2012 by Andrew Luck, who went for 4,374 yards. Had Herbert played that season opener started by Taylor, we'd be talking about a streak that's one season longer than it already is.
In 2021, Herbert became the first quarterback in Chargers history to throw for 5,000 yards, going for 5,014. As such, he set a new mark for the most yards through two seasons, overtaking Luck. And we're talking about a wide margin here, as Herbert's total was 9,350 while Luck's was 8,196.
And as mentioned, Herbert has set the bar every year since, ending his third season at 14,089 (Andrew Luck--12,957), his fourth at 17,223 (Peyton Manning--16,418), and his fifth at 21,093 (Peyton Manning--20,618).
As stated, Manning holds the six-season record, upping his total to 24,885 after a 4,267-yard campaign for the Colts in 2003, which was also the year he won the first of five NFL MVPs.
As such, Herbert needs 3,793 yards for the Chargers in 2025 to take over the top spot on his own, which is definitely doable, as he's averaged 4,218.6 yards per season through his first five years.