I know. This article seems blasphemous. How in the world is Justin Herbert being compared to a backup quarterback who has bounced around the league and become a bit of a joke? I wish I understood how it got this ugly, this quickly. But this is the world we live in.
Justin Herbert is playing the worst football of his career under Mike McDaniel. Herbert has the worst quarterback rating in the league, with nearly twice as many interceptions as touchdowns. Sure, the supporting cast is perhaps the worst in the league, and any quarterback would struggle given the circumstances. But Herbert has done nothing to elevate the team himself.
Instead, we are watching Herbert bottom out in real time. An MVP candidate is playing like he belongs in the UFL. It's baffling because we've seen Herbert be an elite quarterback: a bona fide top-five signal-caller who is good enough to theoretically lead the Bolts to the Super Bowl.
Carson Wentz was that many moons ago. The proverbial MVP favorite in 2017 blew out his knee, watched Nick Foles win the Super Bowl with his team, and was never the same. People forget just how good Wentz was at his best, and sadly, the more Herbert plays like he is in 2026, the more the general football public will forget about his great play as well.
Justin Herbert is a statistical twin to Carson Wentz
Wentz's career took a turn when he tore his ACL in 2017. Herbert's career took a turn when the Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh. Wentz was injury related, Herbert has to do with lack of resources around him. The very same head coach that is supposed to lead Herbert to the promised land is the one actively ruining his career.
Many assume that Wentz was awful right after his knee blew out but that wasn't the case. Wentz actually put together two pretty decent seasons before the bottom completely fell out in his age-28 season. Believe it or not, those two seasons are virtually identical to Herbert's first two seasons paired with Harbaugh.
I mean, c'mon. Does it get any closer than this? Herbert had essentially the same completion percentage, only one more touchdown pass, and two more interceptions than Wentz had in his two seasons after tearing his ACL. Wentz threw for more yards per game as Herbert turned into a game manager, and the difference in passer rating is negligible.
This is solid quarterback play. Good enough to hang your hat on. Wentz kept the Eagles competitive and helped lead them to the playoffs both years. He attempted a combined four passes in the playoffs, was he was injured and didn't play in 2018 before suffering a concussion in the first quarter in 2019.
The Chargers made the playoffs both years with the same record, weren't taken seriously as a real Super Bowl contender, and lost both playoff games. Herbert was bad against the Houston Texans and New England Patriots, much like Wentz was bad in the Eagles' two playoff losses. In Wentz's case, it was a warning sign.
Perhaps it was for Herbert, too. The Eagles' offensive line fell apart and with no league-average weapons around him, Wentz put together the worst year of his career. With a bad offensive line and no league-average weapons around him, Herbert is currently putting together the worst year of his career. Herbert's numbers, believe it or not, actually make Wentz look better.
Herbert is turning the ball over more than Wentz, isn't throwing for as many yards or touchdowns, and isn't being sacked as many times per game (although it's still a big number). Herbert is second in the NFL in sacks behind Deshaun Watson; Wentz led the league in times sacked in 2020 despite only playing 12 games.
You think the Chargers' weapons are bad this year? Go look at the 2020 Eagles. The 2020 Eagles' wide receiver room, in order of receiving yards, consisted of Travis Fulgham, Greg Ward, Jalen Reagor, and a 34-year-old DeSean Jackson, among many other mediocre options. Wentz was bad, but just like Herbert, his issues were compounded by an awful supporting cast.
Wentz never recovered. The Eagles got rid of him in favor of Jalen Hurts, turning him over to start with the Indianapolis Colts. Another mediocre season made Wentz a backup who bounced around the league. Now, he's Kyler Murray's backup on the Minnesota Vikings.
Injuries and lack of support later in his Eagles tenure killed Wentz's career. An MVP candidate turned into an unfortunate what-if story. Wentz never regained prominence on the NFL quarterback totem pole. Herbert still has time.
The Chargers must act with urgency to save Justin Herbert
Wentz's career arc is a reminder of what can happen to a promising NFL career if mishandled. Like it or not, Herbert is heading down the exact same path as Wentz at the same age. But the Chargers don't have to give up on Herbert as the Eagles did with Wentz. They still have time to fix this.
As absurd as this would have sounded 24 months ago, the solution may be moving on from Harbaugh in some regard. Herbert has consistently gotten worse since the Chargers hired Harbaugh and GM Joe Hortiz. And can you blame him? Almost everything the Chargers have done has flown in the face of Herbert's development.
Harbaugh hired Greg Roman fresh off of being driven out of Baltimore for running a terrible offense with an MVP-caliber quarterback. Roman was known for building a rushing attack and not known for getting the best out of his quarterback. The results spoke for themselves.
Then Hortiz decided to get rid of both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. The Chargers had to cut cap space and many assumed the Bolts would keep one edge rusher and one wide receiver. Instead, Hortiz opted to keep Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, cutting Williams and trading Allen. Bosa put together a mediocre 2024 season while battling injuries, and Allen eventually rejoined the team the following offseason to give LA much-needed wide receiver depth.
Hortiz had to help Herbert in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, as the choice was between Joe Alt and Malik Nabers. Taking a franchise tackle over a franchise wide receiver makes sense if the Chargers made the right moves afterward. They didn't.
The Bolts signed Bradley Bozeman to be the worst starting center in the sport. That wasn't enough for Harbaugh, who had to be loyal to his guy in 2025 and give him a second chance. Los Angeles also then whiffed on Mekhi Becton at right guard and didn't add any viable tackle depth, resulting in a nightmare offensive line season in 2025.
Hortiz added no youth to the offensive line room prior to that season, instead opting for a first-round running back who is already being phased out of the offense and a second-round wideout who has been a complete afterthought. Two whiffs.
Faced with another chance to add offensive line talent, Hortiz opted to once again ignore the issue, signing Cole Strange off the bargain bin and overdrafting his "blue star" prospect Jake Slaughter to play out of position. It wasn't until Tyler Biadasz was injured that Slaughter was moved to his natural center position. And even then, it's been ugly.
Yes, the Chargers have committed resources to the offense. It's been miscalculated at every step of the way. Heck, the team hired an offensive coordinator whom the head coach clearly doesn't understand, leading to a massive offensive disconnect that has resulted in the worst play of Herbert's career.
I am not going to sit here and say that I didn't want McDaniel. We all did. I just assumed Harbaugh and Hortiz knew what they were getting when they hired him. They clearly didn't. They hired an offensive coach they don't understand, making it clear they had no idea whether or not Herbert (or the pieces around him) could succeed in this offense.
Herbert certainly deserves blame, too. He hasn't played up to snuff. Plain and simple. We can make all the excuses in the world for him; many are valid, and at the end of the day, he needs to go out and play like the elite quarterback he is paid to be.
Some of it is self-inflicted; a lot of it is because of circumstances. But either way, Justin Herbert is firmly on a Carson Wentz career trajectory and is barreling toward football irrelevance if he and the Chargers don't act with urgency.
It's too late for Carson Wentz. It's not for Justin Herbert.
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