The Chargers’ risk-averse passing game over the last three years under Joe Lombardi and then Kellen Moore has driven a lot of people nuts when there’s a quarterback in Justin Herbert who would seem to have the ability to drive the ball all over the field on a no-matter-what basis.
But the tape and the metrics bear it out — last season, Herbert had just 55 attempts of 20+ air yards — to put that in perspective, Jordan Love of the Packers led the league with 90. Herbert did complete 20 of those passes, which is about the standard ratio for deep completions, but the hope is that Jim Harbaugh and new offensive coordinator Greg Roman will unleash things a bit more often.
That dink-and-dunk approach has also done receiver Josh Palmer no favors. Selected in the third round of the 2021 draft out of Tennessee, Palmer is a big (6′ 1¼”, 210-pound) target who can singe cornerbacks and safeties downfield when given the chance. Last season, even under those circumstances, Palmer had seven deep catches on 14 targets for 299 yards and two touchdowns.
Some players are underrated simply because their coaches aren’t in the mood to let them show what they can do best. Hopefully, that changes for the Chargers this season.
Justin Herbert isn't the only one who's been hamstrung by the @chargers' mostly risk-averse passing games. Josh Palmer, seen here cooking (sorry) Bryan Cook, has all kinds of deep-ball chops. Hopefully, Greg Roman will be the one to exploit them. pic.twitter.com/H2DbINwxN9
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) May 23, 2024
