The tide has started to turn on LA Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. After taking the league by storm with one of the most impressive rookie seasons in NFL history, Herbert became a media and analytics darling.
The overall NFL world has soured a bit on Herbert after an injury-plagued season led to a 5-12 record for the Bolts. Herbert is falling behind his peers in terms of team success and many have taken that as an opportunity to question if Herbert is overrated.
Thankfully, Herbert is still regarded as a top-10 quarterback in the leauge, although his placement is a bit low. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler continued his yearly tradition of asking league coaches and executives to rank the top 10 players at each position. The quarterback rankings were released on Monday (subscription required) and Herbert checked in as the No. 6 ranked quarterback.
That feels a bit low but given the kind of year he had in 2023 but it is not objectively horrible. However, Herbert may only rank this low because some coaches and executives are utterly disrespecting him by not even ranking him in the top 10.
Would love to know which NFL executive thinks there are 10 quarterbacks in the league better than Justin Herbert… pic.twitter.com/3ttmVrchLx
— Guilty As Charged Podcast (@GACPodcast17) July 15, 2024
One NFL source doesn't watch the Chargers, ranks Justin Herbert outside the top 10
It is hard to see how anyone in their right mind who has an ounce of football knowledge can watch the LA Chargers and not come to the conclusion that Justin Herbert is a top-10 quarterback in the league.
Anyone who comes to that conclusion either has an agenda (perhaps a division rival or someone who regrets not drafting Herbert themselves) or is simply ignorant of the facts. Sure, Herbert did not have a top-10 quarterback season because of injuries in 2023 but that doesn't open the door for 10 other quarterbacks to make the list.
By that same logic, Joe Burrow shouldn't make the top 10 list (he did). Neither should Aaron Rodgers, whose season lasted a full five minutes (he did). But simply because there is a lack of top quarterbacks, the person who ranked Herbert outside of the top 10 almost certainly had to have those two guys in the top 10.
At the end of the day, it does not really matter if Herbert is getting disrespected by his own peers in the league as that only gives him more fuel to be great in 2024. But you would think that after all he has accomplished, with very limited resources at times, he would at least be a consensus top-10 quarterback in the league.
At least Herbert now has the chance to make this anonymous NFL source look completely foolish.