Opinion: Jim Harbaugh is turning Justin Herbert into a system quarterback

When Los Angeles hired Jim Harbaugh to make yet another leap to the NFL after winning a national title at Michigan, Chargers fans rejoiced. After years of frustration watching the failures of the Brandon Staleys and Anthony Lynns of the world, the Chargers would finally have a guy who could take advantage of rocket-armed quarterback Justin Herbert and make a deep playoff run.

Except it hasn’t quite worked out like that. The good news it that the Chargers are winning—they’re 2-0, even if those two wins have come against the Raiders and the Panthers, neither of whom are going anywhere this year. But Herbert’s numbers look suspiciously like those of a system quarterback or—gasp—a game manager as Harbaugh runs his version of Rex Ryan’s old “ground and pound” offense.

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The numbers tell the story on Justin Herbert

If this possibility sounds too wild or far-fetched, just look at the numbers. Herbert has thrown for less that 150 yards in both LA wins, and while his turnover TD-to-interception ratio is an impressive three to one, he’s been outgunned by the likes of Gardner Minshew, who has freely admitted he doesn’t have a very strong arm.

Herbert does have a strong arm—he’s just not using it very much. The Chargers longest completion of the season has gone for just 29 yards, which was basically a midrange throw for Herbert prior to his Harbaugh days. It’s a strange way to see the Chargers win, but then again it’s strange to see the Chargers winning at anything that doesn’t resemble a .500 pace.

Instead, LA has relied on former Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins to carry the load. He’s done it quite impressively, too, putting up 131 yards against the Panthers on just 17 carries, and an even more formidable 135 yards on a mere 10 carries in the opener versus the Raiders. You can win a lot of games when you’re lead back is picking up a first down on nearly every carry, which Dobbins is basically doing with a per-carry average of 9.9 yards.

Harbaugh has to be secretly delighted by this. His weekly presser quotes can range from off the cuff to completely off the wall, but this was his basic goal when he came to LA, to establish a physical presence on both offense and defense that would play throughout the long season.

The next two opponents will be very revealing for Herbert and the Chargers

There are two big questions related to all this: (1) How does Herbert feel about it, and (2) Can the Chargers play this way and win in today’s NFL?

Herbert has been relatively noncommittal so far. He’s currently dealing with the aftermath of an ankle injury he sustained against Carolina, and he spent training camp dealing with plantar fasciitis, so it’s not like he’d been ready and able to cut loose with a typical Justin Herbert gunslinging game.

The contrast between the Chargers next two opponents should be very revealing, assuming Herbert is healthy enough to give it a full go in both games. The Steelers are in a somewhat similar situation as Mike Tomlin continues to conduct his never-ending search for his next quarterback. Justin Fields has been mostly mediocre and Russell Wilson has been mostly hurt, so Tomlin is doing his own version of ground-and-pound combined with tough defense that he’ll doubtless employ at home against the Chargers.

The game after that should tell the real story, though. That’s when the Chiefs come to town, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned in the last few years, it’s that you don’t win games against Patrick Mahomes by playing dink and dunk or ground and pound. Herbert will need to be at his gunslinging best against Kansas City, and it will be a fascinating test to see what kind of performance Justin Herbert turns in.

This article was originally written by Bob McCullough