The biggest storyline of the Los Angeles Chargers‘ training camp is not a position battle but an adjustment: Justin Herbert learning a new offense under coordinator Mike McDaniel. Hired after his run as the Miami Dolphins’ head coach ended, McDaniel joined Jim Harbaugh’s staff and replaced Greg Roman as the play-caller.
McDaniel built his reputation in San Francisco and Miami on wide-zone run schemes designed to generate quick throws and easy completions, and he has spent the offseason applying that thinking to Herbert’s mechanics. Among the changes, per the team, is Herbert’s shotgun footwork — moving his non-throwing foot forward to speed up his release and get the ball out faster. McDaniel has framed the goal plainly, saying he wants to “take a little off his plate” so Herbert is free to do more when it counts.
For a franchise whose history is a long ledger of near-misses, the appeal is obvious. Herbert has never lacked arm talent; what the Chargers have chased for years is an offense that turns it into January football. Pairing one of the league’s strongest arms with a designer of layup completions is, at minimum, a coherent plan — the kind Los Angeles has not always had.
The reworked mechanics are the sort of change that looks small in June and matters in December, and camp is where it either takes or does not. How cleanly Herbert operates the new footwork against a live rush will be the tell.
Chargers rookies reported July 23 with veterans due July 28 and public practices opening July 29. Herbert enters it as the centerpiece of a system built, deliberately, around getting the ball out of his hands faster.
