Justin Herbert, Chargers’ new offense could thrive thanks to his study skills

Nate Gilliam and Gabe Nabers had an awkward situation when Justin Herbert asked what they planned to do for housing during their rookie season with the Chargers.

Gilliam and Nabers already had plans to live together. They didn’t expect the prized first-round rookie quarterback to be interested in being anyone’s roommate.

“I think we found a place,” Gilliam recalled telling Herbert when he revealed his plans with Nabers.

Herbert’s response, according to Gilliam: “Oh, so you don’t want to live with me?”

Gilliam and Nabers didn’t mind making room for one more because they had become close with Herbert during training camp. They played video games, board games and ate together while staying at the team hotel.

“We didn’t know that was an option,” Gilliam, an offensive lineman on the Chargers’ practice squad, said about living with Herbert. “We just didn’t know that was actually going to come together. I think we went to dinner and we talked it over then.”

The three rookies moved into a place near the team’s facility in Costa Mesa and added to their teammate bonding activities by hosting a feast on the days following wins last season. The roommates cooked a “victory brisket” for the main course.

“He won’t take credit for it, but he’s like the head of the operation when it comes to cooking the meat,” Nabers, a fullback, said of Herbert. “I’m like the sous chef and sides guy. I’m the ultimate sides guy.”

The college-like atmosphere helped Herbert stay centered while dealing with the rigorous demands of being a starting quarterback in the NFL. But Gilliam and Nabers quickly learned that any roommate activities needed to be planned for early in the week.

The closer it got to game days, the more time Herbert spent in his downstairs office analyzing film and preparing for that week’s opponent.

“We’d get home and he’d be in his own zone,” Nabers said. “Me and Nate would have our own things that we do and I’d be in my room watching film. … But Justin would always be downstairs in his office watching film.”

Occasionally, Gilliam knocked on Herbert’s door and asked if he could pick his brain on what he’s seeing on film.

“With that guy, you have to give him space,” Gilliam said. “Let him focus. Let him do his own thing. You can chime in. He’s not going to be standoffish. … But with those kinds of people, I feel like they just see it quicker than others in the sense that they see the big picture.

“For him, he sees the coverages. He sees certain things a different way. … He just picked it up a little bit quicker than the normal person.”

That meticulous preparation is why Herbert had instant success when he was thrust into the starter’s role in Week 2 last season without getting any first-team snaps in training camp. His ability to quickly process how defenses are attacking him helped him sustain that success and deliver a record-setting rookie season.

But Herbert, 23, is starting from scratch for his second season with a new coaching staff and another scheme to learn.

He won’t catch the Washington Football Team by surprise in the season opener on Sunday at FedExField. All of the Chargers’ 2021 opponents have a year’s worth of film on the strong-armed quarterback, but Herbert doesn’t rely solely on his physical gifts to beat opponents.

He welcomes the challenge of adjusting to the adjustments defenses are sure to make against him this season.

RISK FOR LONG-TERM REWARDS

Herbert broke several NFL rookie records and earned Offensive Rookie of the Year honors under the guidance of former head coach Anthony Lynn and his staff.

The Chargers fired Lynn after Herbert’s memorable rookie year because the team had back-to-back losing seasons and the front office didn’t view Lynn and his staff as innovative enough to take Herbert to the next level.

By hiring a new coaching staff, the Chargers risked disrupting Herbert’s comfort zone. Too many times young quarterbacks regress because they were forced to learn a new offensive system.

But that was likely never a significant concern for Chargers ownership and General Manager Tom Telesco after they witnessed what Herbert was able to do without an offseason program during the pandemic and without any starter’s reps before being notified just before kickoff that he would make his debut against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2.

A revolving door at offensive coordinator has derailed the careers of many promising quarterbacks, but learning a new system hasn’t been an issue for Herbert. Consuming new knowledge has become one of his strengths.

“That’s a skill,” Nabers said, “being able to drop some information and just fully let the new information flood your brain. That’s a skill. I think that’s something (Herbert’s) been pretty good at.”

Herbert is in the process of learning his fifth offensive system in the past six seasons. He had three head coaches in four seasons at the University of Oregon and is now with his second NFL head coach.

Herbert, a three-time Academic All-American at Oregon, credited his study habits for being able to transition to different offensive systems.

“I think it goes back to school and having good study habits,” said Herbert, a biology major who had a 4.01 cumulative grade-point average in college. “Being able to try and pick things up quickly, you have to work hard. You have to put the work in to get it figured out.”

Disrupting Herbert’s comfort zone after his historic rookie season was likely worth the risk for the Chargers because of his proven study habits and his new teachers.

The well-prepared Herbert is now working with Chargers coach Brandon Staley, a defensive mastermind with a knack for being ahead of trends, and offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, who has extensive knowledge of the New Orleans Saints’ offensive system, one of the most successful schemes in the league over the past 15 years.

Lombardi, Staley, quarterbacks coach Shane Day and offensive line coach Frank Smith spent the offseason program and training camp building off the Saints’ scheme as a foundation and tweaking it to fit Herbert’s strengths.

Lombardi spent 12 of the past 14 seasons as a Saints assistant coach. He was the quarterbacks coach for 10 of those years and got to coach Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater, Taysom Hill, Jameis Winston and Chase Daniel, who is now a backup quarterback with the Chargers.

“It’s a very sophisticated offense, but the foundation is the same,” Daniel said about comparing the Chargers’ and Saints’ schemes. “We’re going to do stuff that Justin might do better than Drew Brees and vice versa. What Joe does is fit the offense to the quarterback. He got spoiled for so long being with Drew for 12 years. But this No. 10 of ours is special. He can throw just about every ball on the football field.

“I know Justin’s excited about (the new offense). It’s a lot of studying, a lot of work for a quarterback in this system. You literally have to know every single bit in the run game, the pass game, play-action game, screen game. Justin’s been studying his butt off for that. It’s going to be fun when the live bullets start flying.”

The complex scheme and rotating personnel groupings at a rapid pace might be the toughest system Herbert has ever been asked to grasp, but he’s embraced the challenge.

“It’s never easy and I wouldn’t really want it any other way,” Herbert said. “It’s obviously a tough scheme that we have to learn, but all of the guys here, they put in a lot of effort. I think it’s been going pretty well so far.”

‘EVERYBODY GETS LOVE’

Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen was in the process of explaining what makes this offensive system different from others when he realized Nabers was being featured in this offense.

“We got different personnel groupings,” Allen explained. “Gabe’s getting catches out there. … Obviously, that’s Herb’s guy. He’s getting catches on hitch routes. That’s a fullback, by the way.”

Allen doesn’t want to lose targets to a fullback, but he understands the more other players contribute, the better it’s going to be for him and Herbert in the long run.

“Everybody gets love in the offense and that’s good because, obviously, I get doubled a lot,” said Allen, a four-time Pro Bowl receiver. “Mike (Williams) gets doubled sometimes in the red zone. Jared (Cook) will get doubled in the red zone. (Austin Ekeler) gets doubled sometimes, so if everybody is getting the ball, it’s hard to pick who to double, so it’ll open up some matchups.”

Nabers is Herbert’s guy, as Allen mentioned, but they’re no longer roommates. All three moved into their own homes for their second NFL season.

Nabers and Gilliam won’t have to worry about disrupting Herbert’s “locked in” film sessions. Herbert has a new home office, but the results on the field have been the same.

Herbert has gotten his teammates in the right places and has executed the fast-paced offense smoothly in practices, according to his teammates.

“We’re going to utilize his big arm,” Lombardi said about taking downfield shots. “We’re keeping the defense on their heels, especially when a new personnel group comes in while you’re in the huddle. By the time they figure out who’s in the huddle, they’re trying to get their call in. We’ll already be breaking and then the ball snaps. It gives (opposing defenses) less time to think, the faster you can change personnel groups.

“They’re always looking for tendencies. Like when we’re in this personnel grouping, this is the call we like to make. The less time you give them to think about it, the better.”

Nabers expects the Chargers to have a variety of personnel groupings, including multiple tight ends on the field and an empty backfield.

“Any offensive coordinator is going to want to utilize Keenan, but a lot of our schemes last year were to try to get him and some of our main dominant playmakers the ball, which you always want to do, but I think the difference in this offense is this offense is trying to highlight where you’re weak,” Nabers said. “So week-to-week we’re going to try to find where is the weak point in a defense?

“And we have weapons at every spot. … There’s definitely different ways to get everybody the ball. It’s not an offense where you’re asleep on some plays. ‘I know I’m not getting the ball.’ If you have that mindset then you’re going to get hit in the back of the head with a ball because you never know when it’s coming.”

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

Herbert had a prolific rookie season, but he had some struggles when facing defenses with complex disguises.

But Herbert should improve in that area after spending an offseason with a defensive coach who thrived with disguises. Staley turned the Rams into the top-ranked defense in the NFL last season when he was their defensive coordinator.

Staley has made sure to throw as much as possible at Herbert and the offense during practice.

“They’ve done such a great job disguising their looks,” Herbert said about Staley’s Chargers defense. “That’s what they do such a great job of. They’re really well-coached and they have some really talented guys on that side of the ball. It’s a special opportunity for us to go against them because they’re going to make us better and, hopefully, we’ll be able to do the same thing for them. Just to be able to see it, see their fronts, all of the different personnel and what they’re able to do, it’ll make us better.”

Staley attempted to confuse Herbert, but he quickly realized how much he has improved from his rookie season.

“What I’m aware of is that on defense, your margin for error is so much smaller against the caliber of a quarterback like Justin Herbert,” Staley said. “The margins are so small and you have to be so much more precise. That’s really bringing out the best in our defense, especially from a coverage systems standpoint because he can hit any throw that’s tightly contested. If you’re not tightly contested, those are layups for him. I think it’s really bringing out the best in our defense.”

The Chargers’ new offensive scheme has evolved since the start of training camp and the test trials in practices have concluded. The updated scheme launches Sunday and mistakes will likely occur against a stacked Washington defense led by Chase Young and Montez Sweat, but adjusting on the fly is what Herbert does best.

“It’s obviously a tough situation when you lose a coaching staff that you’ve become close with,” Herbert said. “It’s never easy. But you have to look at it as a good opportunity to learn more about football. All of these schemes and all of the things that they bring are going to be different. You get to see more football, you get to learn more. I think that aspect of my background has helped me.”

Daniel said Herbert didn’t speak much when Brees met with the Chargers’ quarterbacks on multiple occasions in the summer. Herbert, as he often does, was listening and letting Brees’ knowledge flood into his brain.

“He’s probably one of the smartest young guys I’ve been around in terms of knowledge,” Daniel said.

Herbert’s football IQ and study habits helped launch his NFL career. Now, those tools should help him sustain success with a new offensive scheme in 2021.