It’s no real secret that the Los Angeles Chargers have struggled on the offensive side of the ball this season, particularly in terms of rushing the ball. The team ranks near the bottom of the league in terms of rushing, averaging just 3.8 yards per carry this season. And one particularly horrible stat offers a pretty big reason why.
As NBC commentator Cris Collinsworth pointed out during Saturday night’s broadcast of the Los Angeles Chargers’ loss to the Buffalo Bills, starting quarterback Justin Herbert was actually the highest-rated run blocker on the entire team before his season-ending injury, according to data from Pro Football Focus.
Obviously, it’s pretty horrible news for the Chargers when their starting quarterback is the highest-rated run-blocker on the entire roster as it’s an indictment on the rest of their roster as well as the coaching staff.
Naturally, this shocking statistic led to a lot of reactions on social media.
Tom Telesco really might be the worst GM in the history of professional sports. https://t.co/cnenOW92PF
— Richard (@RichardWade) December 24, 2023
Mike Williams and Corey Linsley are higher; but they both only played 3 games, so yeah, but also, all this means is that everyone else is below a 60 lol https://t.co/xb3tyenW2F
— Sam Hays (@WichitaChiefSam) December 24, 2023
There are a lot of people saying this is an indictment of PFF, but really they're just giving away that they haven't watched a lot of Chargers football. https://t.co/cnenOW92PF
— Richard (@RichardWade) December 24, 2023
True but can you imagine the presser if BB were actually to coach them next year? “Run blocking? [snort] I think we’re pretty solid on run blocking we have the best run blocking QB in football.” https://t.co/Fa26bGIO7n
— Brad Sohn (@BradSohn) December 24, 2023
Impressive and embarrassing at the same time. https://t.co/BwfYipyJJ4
— BoltGang (@LightzOut83) December 24, 2023
All these talking heads now going after the Staley coaching.
I was on this day one
— dpat (@HalfBaked802) December 24, 2023
And also an indictment of PFFs entire grading system. Not that the Chargers’ o-line actually played well, but that PFFs system is broken. Always has been.
— jonathanmarcus (@jonathanmarcus) December 24, 2023
The Chargers were obviously not pleased with the way this season was going as the team decided to part ways with head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco earlier this month. But this stat shows just how broken things were on the offensive side of the ball this year.
