Justin Herbert Is Done For The Year And It's Time To Go Full War Thunder
ICYMI, Herbert fractured a finger on his throwing hand after previously fucking up a finger on his other hand this year. Like most of us expected, he's officially out for the year since the Chargers playoff hopes are dead and have been dead for weeks. It sucks, and it officially ends the second longest active starting streak for a QB only behind Josh Allen. That said, It's time to look to the future.
One thing to note off the bat is that GM Tom Telesco and Staley are toast. They'll survive the season because there is no reason to fire them now but there is no way they survive through black Monday. Who takes over is the real question. I have no idea who is in the GM market but HC is easier to speculate on. People who know nothing about the org will say Harbaugh or Bill etc. The reality is that the Spanos family has never and will never pay a coach an upper-level amount. The reality is that will will be someone line Ben Jones or Joe Brady. Someone they don't have to pay but has a lot of upside. In my opinion, all I want is an offensive-minded coach that knows the value of explosive plays in today's NFL.
The other thing that now comes to mind is where will the Chargers pick and what position will they target? To me, it's too early to completely write off QJ but if you have the chance to pair your franchise QB with a guy like MHJ, you do it. Especially with Keenan & Williams on the road to being cap casualties.
Here is the chart.
There are certain teams we can take out of the running if they end up in the top-5 because they clearly pretty need a QB (NE, LV, NYJ, NYG). It's also hard to know where Arizona, Washington and Chicago stand with their QBs.
I also think that, if you look at the Chargers schedule, there is a pretty good chance they don't win another game. With Easton Stick at the wheel, they have @ Raiders in 2 days on a short week, the Bills on another short week(sat), @ broncos who just beat them, and then the Chiefs to close out the season with the Chiefs likely in a battle for playoff position (potentially a bye considering the strength of the remaining Ravens schedule). If they finish 5-12 and are in position for a top-5 pick, whoever the new GM is should do whatever they can to get MHJ.
Next season, Mack, Bosa, Keenan and Mike Williams are accounting for 58% of the team's cap and 2 of those guys can't stay on the field. Some of them have to go, and MHJ sets up their franchise QB for years to come on offense.