Justin Herbert

6-foot-6 237-pounds

Sheldon HS

Eugene, OR

Career (30 games)

541 of 865 passing (62.5%)

7070 Yards (13.1 YPC)

63 TD (2.1 TD per game)

17 INT (0.57 INT per game)

235.7 YPG

2018 (13 games)

240 of 404 passing (59.4%)

3151 Yards (13.1 YPC)

29 TD (2.2 TD per game)

8 INT (0.62 INT per game)

242.4 YPG

Although Herbert's 2018 completion percentage was a bit below his career average, that can easily be explained by the inordinate amount of drops from his receiving core in 2018. On the bright side, the position looks to be much improved, with a new coach focused on getting back to the fundamentals of receiving. Along with an injection of freshman and transfer talent, both improved route running and hands will provide Herbert with the potential to exceed his already respectful 2018 numbers. I'd also expect to see Herbert improve on his TD to INT ratio as he likely won't need to lock on to a single target this year.

Herbert has the ability to scramble and has visited the end zone on the ground, but the Duck coaches would like to limit his runs and hits as much as possible.

Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention

While Herbert has to be considered one of the favorites to be First-Team this year, he hasn't been able to load up on the conference honors yet due to injury, lack of consistent targets, and playing in a QB loaded conference. If based solely on potential, Herbert would have quite a bit more accolades (he does boast a number of All-Academic honors). In order to win the honor, not only will Oregon need to be successful, but Herbert will need to show that he is the game breaker.

Oregon found a diamond in their back yard, taking Herbert as a third QB commit (at the time) on October 9th, 2015. Herbert held offers from Nevada, Montana State, Northern Arizona, and Portland State at the time. As soon as Herbert was offered by Oregon, he quickly pulled the trigger.

"I got the offer Thursday but I had been talking with coach (Mark) Helfrich and coach (Scott) Frost for a while now," Herbert told Rivals.com. "I had plenty of time to think about it, especially if the opportunity presented itself."

"It's so close to home and obviously they have great coaches. It's just an exciting opportunity for me."

Herbert was injured during his junior year and wasn’t able to show his potential. Given that, it was difficult to rank him at the time, but his initial ranking of 3* seemed fair. His Rivals Rank of 5.6 would put him at a mid-range 3*, which he has clearly exceeded.

Herbert has been a solid player for the Ducks, and came back for his senior season despite a likely high first-round draft position. Herbert has all the tools to be a great NFL QB, with just a few minor things (e.g., footwork under pressure, locking on to receivers) to work on.

Re-ranking Herbert as a 5* seems totally fair given his skill set. Here are a handful of other QBs from his class:

282 of 434 (65%)

3694 Yards (13.1 YPC)

35 TD (2.5 TD per game)

6 INT (0.43 INT per game)

263.9 YPG

With a few less drops, Herbert's numbers become more impressive. Now is the time for Herbert to take the next step as a game changer. If he can put up this type of number set, along with a strong running game, the Ducks should play 14 games this season. There will be a number difficult tests on the road, and wide receiver health has already started to rear it's ugly head, but expect greatness out of Herbert in 2019.