Little-respected fact could mean NFL is sleeping on Justin Herbert and the Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers aren’t receiving much in the way of hype right now, which isn’t all that surprising with Justin Herbert remaining his usual quiet self, last year’s messy playoff exit and the appearance of underwhelming compared to the expectations that came with having boatloads of cap space. 

But most would agree the Chargers do have an improved roster, at least. And there’s something else going on that tends to go overlooked when analyzing the team. 

Herbert, after all, will have the same offensive coordinator for consecutive seasons for just the second time in his career, courtesy of Greg Roman getting a Year 2.

USA Today’s Tyler Dragon chatted with Roman about what this has meant already within his system:

“He can go out and run the practice. He knows this offense inside and out now. Last year this time, it was third system in three years so that was a challenge I guess you would call it, which he conquered. This year with him and some of the guys we’re able to kind of progress things. We understand who we are now way differently than we did last year. What we do will be a little different, how we do it and how we practice it.

It’s a really big deal that the Chargers feel like they’re ahead of schedule compared to last year when the Jim Harbaugh era was just getting started. 

This might also help explain why many of the big additions this offseason were of the plug-and-play variety. 

Think, Mike Williams coming back to a team and passer he knows well. Huge free-agent signing Mekhi Becton won’t need a lot of time to get adapted. Running back is as plug-and-play as it gets, be it veteran Najee Harris from free agency or even first-rounder Omarion Hampton. 

Tack on Herbert enjoying some continuity, and it sure feels like the Chargers could shock some fans next year because Harbaugh has brought on some organizational stability.