Mike McDaniel has coached plenty of gifted quarterbacks, but he says Justin Herbert brings something different to the table.
The new Chargers offensive coordinator laid out the case in a recent interview with ESPN’s Dan Graziano, pointing first to Herbert’s frame and then to the way he sees the game. McDaniel didn’t sound interested in dressing it up.
“Well, he's a small forward in stature, so having a 6-foot-6 quarterback can really benefit you in a ton of ways,” McDaniel told Graziano. “But realistically, he's one of those rare guys who has a very strong arm but can see the field so he can play with anticipation, and then on top of that, there's thousands of more blades of grass that he can access.”
That last line says a lot about why Herbert stands out. At 6-foot-6, he gives McDaniel a different kind of problem to solve than the smaller, quicker quarterbacks he’s been around before. Herbert’s size opens up angles, and his arm strength lets him attack them.
And even with the chaos around him last season, Herbert kept producing. In the 2025 NFL season, he was sacked 54 times behind a battered offensive line, yet still finished with 3,727 passing yards, 26 passing touchdowns and a career-high 498 rushing yards. He spent plenty of snaps escaping pressure and extending plays when the pocket fell apart.
Now McDaniel gets to build around that skill set under head coach Jim Harbaugh, with a revamped offensive staff in place. The plan is a quick-passing system that gets the ball out of Herbert’s hands in under 2.5 seconds, cuts down on punishment, and makes use of the sightlines Herbert has over the line.
If that pairing clicks, the Chargers could be tough to handle. McDaniel has the scheme.
My interview from Monday at Chargers camp with offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, who says the experience of working with Justin Herbert has exceeded his expectations. pic.twitter.com/jmEHuyAu5o
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) August 4, 2026
Herbert has the size, arm and vision. That combination is exactly what makes this setup so intriguing.
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