Two years ago, the Combine was buzzing with quarterback prognostication - specifically, how high and where Justin Herbert would go.
Fast forward to 2022 and we found ourselves back at Combine Radio Row but this time, speaking with media members about No 10.'s historic first two seasons in the NFL after he was selected by the Chargers sixth-overall in 2020.
One of those who shared insight on Herbert was former quarterback and current NBC Sports NFL analyst Chris Simms. Simms was high on Herbert coming out of college back in 2020 and needless to say, he's still a big fan.
On what impressed Simms about Herbert at Oregon
"When you watched film, you think, first off, what's the physical talent look like? Size. Size is a skill. It's Justin Herbert, his ability to be big with people on him in the pocket, seeing over people … Athletic, of course. And then, the throwing was off-the-charts good. Too many times, people look at the results and go, 'How many yards did he throw [for?] Did they win every game?' Wherever he wants to put the ball, he puts it. Sometimes they're covered and it might hit the defender's arm but that's not his fault, he put the ball exactly where he wanted to. That's what I really liked about him. That's a narrative I fought and I took a lot of crap for that!"
On the importance of continuity within an offense for Herbert
"You can't really describe [the importance of consistency] in words. It's huge. I think if you look at a lot of the quarterbacks in football who struggled their first few years in their career, throughout time, you can almost always go back to [lack of consistency.] Like, it's year three and this is their third offensive coordinator. It's year four and this is their third offensive coordinator. That is hard. You're getting different messages. You're a young kid learning NFL football and you'll think, last year the message was this, this year it's that … It's hard to kind of get into a groove of what you want as a player, what the coach wants, and when I look at the Chargers offense, it's going to continue going this way because he's gonna get smarter, more comfortable, his ability to handle more at the line of scrimmage mentally [will grow], and that'll embolden [offensive coordinator Joe] Lombardi to go, 'OK, let's throw more at him.'"
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