Chargers' big offseason thing: Win more games with Justin Herbert
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz looks at the one big thing for Los Angeles' offseason - with Jim Harbaugh coming aboard and some key names likely gone, expectations will still be high for a team with one of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL.
Video Transcript
JASON FITZ: The Super Bowl is in the rearview mirror, and that means it's time to take a look at one big thing facing the Los Angeles Chargers this offseason. And that thing is simple. How do you win more games with Justin Herbert? Now, it's easy to say that Brandon Staley was the reason that the Chargers lost so many games, and I'm not sure that's wrong. His decision making was absolutely questionable at key times, and we all know it.
That's why Jim Harbaugh is there. But Harbaugh comes with the expectation to win immediately, and that's easier said than done with a roster that's going to take some hits in order to get under the salary cap. Guys like Austin Ekeler, Keenan Allen, Khalil Mack, who had a great year last year, all of those guys are likely to be somewhere else next year. So you've got to figure out how to better maximize the quarterback that you have, widely considered one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. And that's right. But you've got to figure out how to win more games with him.
I look at the wide receiver position specifically in the draft this year and how stacked it is and where the Chargers are picking in the first round of the draft, and it just feels natural that they'll be able to get a day one, plug and play, oh my God starter in this thing, which makes sense. Because the one thing they're going to have to do is make sure that no matter what, they are maximizing the greatness of Justin Herbert. He's no longer going to be a cheap option, which means because he's making more money, they are going to have to surround him constantly with cheap talent that can immediately come in and contribute. The first test of that will be this year.
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