Mike McDaniel was brought in to fix the Chargers' offense. The new Chargers OC takes over a talented group that ultimately cratered vs. New England in the Wild Card game. While the Chargers delivered some good single-game offensive performances under OC Greg Roman in his two years with the team, the truth is that nothing they built was consistent or sustainable.
McDaniel realizes the opportunity he has. On Friday, he spoke at length about taking QB Justin Herbert to new heights. When McDaniel was first hired for the job, he says his first task was to watch every single Herbert pass play from his six year career: "When I got here, my first task that I bestowed upon myself is I watched every pass play that he's ever had in the National Football League."
McDaniel followed that up by saying the process was in part started by attempting to cater the offense to Herbert and other Chargers' offensive players. Unlike his predecessor in Roman, McDaniel doesn't want the system itself to be quite as rigid in approach. "It's not about 'alright, this is what you've done in the past, this is what we're gonna do now'," McDaniel said. "It's more about he has the capability of mastering every tool in the toolbox."
Mike McDaniel has a specific plan to maximize Justin Herbet's skill-set
Daniel Popper of The Athletic asked for an example of something new McDaniel has asked Herbert to do:
"He's had a lot of success statistically if you look at his time to throw and he's had a ton of success under 2.4 [seconds] and really long plays that are super long play extensions," McDaniel explained. "In those successful 2.4 plays, how do you do things where you can delegitimize any sort of pass rush based upon the timing of which you get the ball out? I've challenged him in some stuff he's already been successful with in those shorter throws. Changed his footwork and asked him to do things based on looking on every pass he's had that he's never done."
McDaniel mentioned getting the ball out in rhythm and the footwork as two directly related concepts that he's seemingly trying to rework in this offense with Herbert. As Jim Harbaugh mentioned earlier this offseason, there will be less traditional drop-back passing game elements and more focus on getting the ball out early to mitigate pressure.
Statistically in Miami, Tua Tagovailoa was one of the least pressured QBs in the league during his time with McDaniel. It's been the opposite for Justin Herbert. Herbert has gotten hit and pressured at rates that rival Andrew Luck's time in Indianapolis. While most of the focus will be on how the offense will be more explosive from play to play, McDaniel himself protecting Herbert with his play calling should be a sigh of relief.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Follow