As it is, Justin Herbert has without a doubt already established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the game. Well, new Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman wants to take Herbert and LA’s offense to another level.
According to Roman, the goal is to further develop Herbert’s running game — a prospect that the coach believes should strike fear in the hearts of the rest of the league.
Los Angeles Chargers OC Greg Roman’s Justin Herbert Warning
The Chargers brought Roman on for a reason and for his part, the 51-year-old already has a clear vision in mind. Roman believes that the key to elevating Herbert’s game is improving his running efficiency:
“Can you imagine Justin Herbert with a great running game?” Roman said, via Kris Rhim of ESPN. “… We don’t know, but I can imagine what it might look like. So that’s kind of the vision.”
Rushing isn’t exactly a strong suit for the Chargers. Arguably the best running back on the squad, Austin Ekeler, produced the lowest yards per carry output (3.5) of his career in 2023. This obviously has a lot to do with the fact that LA has become one of the weakest teams in the league in terms of rushing — something that Roman wants to change now that he’s in charge.
“I think in this league, you can really, really help dictate the defenses if you have a strong running attack,” Roman said. “If you really talk to most defensive coordinators in this league and got ’em off to the side when they’re playing a really good running team, they’re sweating a little bit. They’re sleeping a little less that week.”
Roman knows, however, that what got Herbert to where this young man is today is his elite passing game. The new Chargers OC has no intention of veering away from this strength. However, he hinted at possibly mixing it up this coming season:
“It’s going to be a little different,” Roman said. “I think you’re going to see probably a multiple running game. You’ll probably see the use of motions and shifting, and then you’ll see a pretty diverse passing game.
“… Right now, everybody’s got a blank slate of who we can be or what we can do. Could be anything right now, our principles and whatnot of what we do offensively won’t change, but how they come to life on the field will.”
Could we see new plays drawn up for Herbert to potentially unlock what Roman believes is an untapped area of his game? That’s very much possible.
“We’ll give it to anybody that can gain yards,” Roman said. “And then will Justin run the ball? … It’ll probably be more as a scrambler. Will we have some of that other stuff in our back pocket? Remains to be seen.”
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