Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert breaks the mold of the dumb jock (he, of course, is not the only smart athlete). He graduated with honors with a degree in biology with a 4.01 grade point average and was named Oregon’s first Pac-12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was an Academic All-American of the Year in both 2018 and 2019 and was named a First Team Academic All-American three times.
The words dumb and jock go together like peas and carrots. And some ways not being the sharpest marble in the bag is beneficial for athletes. In many sports, it is actually a detriment to be an overthinker — it is best to leave the pesky brain out of the mix and just lean on muscle memory and brute force.
Has Justin Herbert Been Playing Too Smartly?
One of the biggest criticism of Justin Herbert is, to put it simply, that he plays too smartly. He will check the ball down, rather than sling the ball down the field, as if he did the Bayesian probability calculations right then and there. This has led to both a good outcome of fewer interceptions but also a bad outcome of some of the lowest big-time throw percentages and a shorter average depth of target among starting quarterbacks — statistics that boggle the mind, given his tremendous arm strength.
But that isn’t the case this year. Herbert has the highest big-time throw rate among starting quarterbacks and has a career, 8.5-yard average depth of target. The most impressive part could be that his accuracy remained intact and he has thrown just one interception in nine games.
Harbaugh’s weirdness is unlocking the dumb, brutish aspects of Justin Herbert’s personality
This wasn’t expected under the new coaching of Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman, but there you have it. Obviously, Roman’s scheme has plenty to do with this, but The Athletic’s Robert Mays also thinks, Harbaugh has played a role.
On Tuesday when quote posting a mic’d up segment featuring Herbert and Harbaugh, Mays’s takeaway was; “There is something happening where Jim Harbaugh’s weirdness is unlocking the dumb, brutish aspects of Justin Herbert’s personality, and it’s an absolute game changer.”
The video shows Harbaugh giving Herbert his now traditional pregame hype session made up of several slaps and punches to Herbert’s shoulder pads and pretending to draw up a passing play to fake out the Titans’ defense, as well as, the public and perhaps first-time donning of Herbert’s new nickname, Beast. Harbaugh may be referencing Marshawn Lynch’s famous competitive headspace, Beast Mode, but the more apropos likeness would be the character from X-Men, Beast — who is as equally brutish as he is studious.
