Tom Krasovic: Like Jim Harbaugh before him, Chargers QB Justin Herbert wins by not being picked off (original) (raw)

Justin Herbert has come to resemble Jim Harbaugh.

No, Herbert’s not wearing khaki pants or quipping about The Rockford Files.

Like his head coach back in the day, Herbert refuses to throw the football to defenders.

The fifth-year quarterback boasts the NFL’s best interception rate through 12 games. Harbaugh, in the mid-1990s, twice led the NFL in the same category.

Harbaugh shrank his interceptions mid-career under Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda, a former NFL quarterback. The aversion to turnovers paid off in their second year together. Intercepted just five times in 15 games, Harbaugh led Indianapolis to the 1995 playoffs and the franchise’s first Super Bowl qualifier in 24 years.

The Colts’ talent margins weren’t fat, so ball protection was paramount. Nor do the Chargers brim with star talent, but under Harbaugh, they’ve won three more games than under Brandon Staley and his late-season replacement last year.

L.A. will take an 8-4 record into Sunday night’s road game against the Kansas City Chiefs. A big part of the turnaround is Harbaugh’s team understands how to not lose games. That’s often the first step to NFL success.

Herbert has thrown only one interception, off a forced pass in Week 2 at Carolina. In two other measures of not beating one’s self, Harbaugh’s team stands tied for fifth in fewest penalties per game and tied for ninth in fewest fumbles lost per game.

Herbert wasn’t throwing many interceptions in the four years before Harbaugh took over the Chargers in January.

In fact, he was better than average at avoiding them.

As a rookie, his interception rate of 1.6% tied for eighth in the NFL. His quarterbacks coach was Shane Steichen, under whom Jalen Hurts would lead the 2022 Eagles to the Super Bowl.

Herbert followed with interception rates of 2.2%, 1.4% and 1.5%, good for 15th and tied for sixth and third.

Under Harbaugh, he’s gone to a new stratosphere. With one interception in 336 passes, he has a paltry rate of 0.3%. Closest to him is the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson at 0.8.

It’s not like Herbert has been overly conservative in his attempt to avoid interceptions. His percentage of throws into tight coverage stands seventh, per Next Gen Stats. He’s also throwing farther downfield this year, with a career-high 8.7 air yards per attempt.

But I’ll go easy on making any other quarterbacking comparsions between Herbert and Harbaugh. As Harbaugh would agree, many of Herbert’s quarterbacking gifts exceed those Harbaugh brought to his NFL teams.

Herbert, as compared to QBs of any generation, is afforded better passing angles by his 6-foot-6 height, rare arm strength and good sprint speed.

Harbaugh is a coach’s son who was football-obsessed from early on. Based on Harbaugh’s recent comments to ESPN’s Peyton Manning ahead of L.A.’s loss to the Ravens on “Monday NIght Football,” Herbert brings an attention to detail that matches his extraordinary physical traits.

In a workout witnessed by Harbaugh, the Chargers’ QB was on target with 38 consecutive comeback-route passes of 20 yards, each one thrown off a seven-step drop from under center.

Harbaugh said that in his QB career, he considered it a good result if he put 7 of 10 such passes on the mark. Also, he didn’t have the strength to throw 38 deep comebacks in a row.

To hear Manning and Harbaugh tell it, Herbert is a perfectionist whose tools allow him to put him in more work than other QBs’ bodies can withstand.

It stands to follow, he’s figured out a few things about protecting the football.

Originally Published: December 2, 2024 at 3:00 PM PST