From the moment offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel was hired by the Chargers, the hype began to soar for Justin Herbert in 2026.
After two years of Greg Roman and an offense that seemed to lean too much into the run at times on top of an anemic passing attack, the hope is that McDaniel will get Herbert back to launching moonshots at a much higher clip.
And this time, the expectation is that on the receiving end will be a wideo pen and singular player, not two receivers who were — for some odd reason
— running to the same spot.
If Herbert’s 65-yard touchdown strike to Quentin Johnston in the preseason finale against the Rams is any indicator of what to expect this season, then there will be fireworks aplenty all year long.
It’s with that mindset that some even have Herbert in the preseason MVP conversation alongside the likes of Joe Burrow and Josh Allen. In ESPN’s predictions for the annual awards where they surveyed anonymous NFL coaches and executives, it was Burrow who ultimately was predicted to win the award while Herbert and Allen were in the “received votes” category.
Here are some thoughts from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler along with an anonymous quote from a NFC executive:
“As for Herbert, people inside the league value his work much more highly than some factions of the internet do. ‘Don’t think he got enough credit for everything he did last year when the OL got decimated by injuries,‘ an NFC exec said. ‘They get healthy and a proven, creative playcaller that can make his life easier and [offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel] hasn’t had a QB this gifted.’”
Herbert averaged well over 4,000 yards passing in each of his first three seasons. Then, following the 2022 season, he missed four games with an injury and finished with just 3,134 yards and 20 touchdowns. That was far short of his previous high of 4,336 yards (2020) and 22 scores (2023) and that all came in the worst and final season of the Brandon Staley era.
In the years since, Herbert has pushed for 4,000 yards in the past two seasons under Roman but still fell short. They’ve become a defensive team under Jim Harbaugh and that’s what has kept the team afloat outside of Herbert’s arm. That’s great and all that they haven’t needed Herbert to toss 30+ scores, but it’s been really frustrating to watch this team flip-flop which unit is elite instead of just combining an elite defense with an elite offense.
That’s what the 2026 season could be for the Chargers. If Chris O’Leary keeps things up to the status quo from their past two seasons, then how good can this team really be? The schedule is NOT great. But what if this elite cocktail really comes to fruition? What if the Chargers offense pops off for 28+ per game while the defense remains one of the stingier units in the league?
If MVP tends to only go to quarterbacks on the best overall teams, then how wouldn’t this make Herbert one of the front-runners?
Let me know all of your thoughts on this in the comments below. Why are you, or why aren’t you, very high on Herbert’s MVP chances this season?
