Justin Herbert

BIOGRAPHY

Justin Herbert was born in Eugene, Oregon. He attended Sheldon high school, where he initially found a love for multiple sports and played football, basketball and baseball. His junior year of high school was very significant for his football career as he broke his leg and complicated his recruiting. He had no major programs that offered him a scholarship the only schools that did were Oregon, Nevada, Northern Arizona, Portland State and Montana State. Before his senior year, he thought he would be playing baseball in college instead of football. After being uncertain of what sport he was going to play, he ended up having a great season in football his senior year. He passed for 3,130 yards and 37 touchdowns with 543 rushing yards and ten rushing touchdowns and was named 1st Team All-State and the Southwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

As a true freshman at Oregon, he eventually became the first true freshman QB to start for Oregon since 1983. Herbert started the season as the #2 QB on the depth chart. Despite setting or equaling Oregon's single-game records for total offensive yards (512), passing yards (489), and touchdown passes, the Ducks finished with their worst season in 25 years, going 4–8 and failing to make a bowl game for the first time in over a decade.

Herbert as a sophomore started the season 4-1 but would eventually fracture his collarbone. He returned to the lineup to win the last 2 regular-season games and make the Ducks bowl eligible. The Ducks lost to Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl 38-28. In 8 starts, Herbert had a 6–2 record and threw for 1,983 yards on 139-of-206 passing attempts (67.5%), including 15 touchdowns against only five interceptions. He also rushed the ball 44 times for 183 yards and five touchdowns. Herbert was named first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American with a 4.08 grade-point average in biology. For his 3rd season Herbert led the Ducks to a 9-4 record and a victory in the Redbox Bowl. He finished the year with 3,151 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns, and two rushing touchdowns. His 31 total touchdowns were good for second in the Pac-12 Conference behind Washington State's Gardner Minshew. He was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic first-team.

Herbert decided to go back to Oregon for his senior season with hopes of making the playoffs. He led his team to a 12–2 record and to a win in the Rose Bowl, in which he won the Offensive MVP award. In addition to his on-field success, Herbert was named the 30th recipient of The William V. Cambell Trophy. After his college career,s Justin Herbert was taken in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Chargers with the #6 pick. This made herbert the 3rd QB taken in 2020.

On September 21, 2020, Herbert made his first NFL start in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs, replacing Taylor, who suffered a chest injury during pre-game warm-ups. He finished with 311 passing yards, one touchdown, one interception, and one rushing touchdown as the Chargers lost 20–23 in overtime. He became only the third player in NFL history to pass for at least 300 yards and rush for a touchdown in his first career game. During Week 4 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Herbert completed 20 passes out of 25 attempts for 290 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception as the Chargers lost 31–38. On October 8, 2020, Herbert was named the starting quarterback for the Chargers over Tyrod Taylor going forward.

In Week 5 against the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, Herbert threw for 264 yards and four touchdowns during the 30–27 overtime loss. He became the first rookie in NFL history to throw for four touchdown passes on Monday Night Football. Herbert was named Offensive Rookie of the Month after throwing 10 touchdowns to one interception in three starts with 901 passing yards and a 122.2 passer rating. He also became the first rookie quarterback in NFL history with multiple touchdowns in seven consecutive games. Herbert was named the Offensive Rookie of the Month for his performance in November.

On December 27, 2020, Herbert threw his 28th passing touchdown of the season against the Denver Broncos, breaking the NFL record for most passing touchdowns by a rookie (previously held by Baker Mayfield) during the 19–16 win. During the game, he also threw for over 4,000 yards on the season, becoming only the fourth rookie quarterback to achieve the feat (the others are Cam Newton in 2011, Andrew Luck in 2012, and Jameis Winston in 2015). He was named Rookie of the Year and Offensive Rookie of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America. Herbert was selected to his first pro bowl in the 2021 season.