ESPN’s Underwhelming 2025 Projections for Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paul White | Last updated May 19, 2025 12:32 PM ET

Heading into year two of the Jim Harbaugh regime in Los Angeles, the Chargers are hoping to build off of last season’s successes.

The year ended poorly with an embarrassing playoff loss to the Houston Texans, but the first year of Harbaugh was considered a massive success before that.

He crafted a successful run game that helped relieve some pressure from Justin Herbert and transformed the defense into a top 10 unit.

The former Oregon Ducks star was plagued by injuries at the beginning of the year so he didn’t have the fastest start to the season.

But, after he got healthy he had one of the most efficient passing seasons in NFL history.

Herbert threw for nearly 4,000 yards while posting 23 touchdowns to just three interceptions.

The nearly 8:1 touchdown to interception ratio is by far the best in a single season in league history.

It would be foolish to expect this type of efficiency every season, but it gave Chargers fans hope going into the 2025 season that Herbert will become the all-time great quarterback he’s been touted as for years.

ESPN recently projected the stat lines for all 32 NFL teams’ starting quarterbacks and the numbers for the former Pro-Bowler were shocking.

Along with a decrease in passing yards, they projected Herbert to throw for only 22 touchdowns to nine interceptions.

After choosing not to retain star running back J.K. Dobbins, there will probably be a bigger emphasis and necessity for production from the quarterback position.

If this is the performance the team will be getting from Herbert this year then it is hard to imagine them with any real aspirations to compete.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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