Justin Herbert is starting from the ground up in Mike McDaniel’s new-look Chargers offense.
The 28-year-old quarterback has dedicated much of the offseason to tweaking his footwork — putting his left foot in front of his right from the shotgun, against traditional NFL form — to fit Los Angeles’ new offensive coordinator’s scheme.
McDaniel prioritizes getting the ball to playmakers in space as efficiently as possible, as he did for four seasons as the Miami Dolphins head coach with speedy wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and envisions Herbert’s flip in footing accelerating and syncing the timing of passes with receivers’ route breaks.
“If guys train it so that they don’t have to think about it and they can be comfortable, you can do a couple things that put the defense in a bind with how you do your footwork,” McDaniel said at Chargers minicamp in El Segundo. “I don’t mandate it. With Justin, I really just showed him where I thought it would be advantageous, and he didn’t blink for a second and was excited to attack it.”
“The patternization in Mike McDaniel’s system has required some footwork changes,” added head coach Jim Harbaugh. “[Herbert’s] been working very hard, very hard at those. And as you would expect, Justin has picked it up.”
McDaniel said he got the idea as an up-and-comer on staffs in Houston and Washington alongside current 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and pointed to Matt Ryan and Tua Tagovailoa as recent quarterbacks with whom he has implemented the stance change and reaped positive results.
Herbert, who has been one of those traditional right-handed quarterbacks to have their right foot forward from the shotgun, has embraced his new coordinator’s methodology.
“It’s about playing the way that [McDaniel] sees the quarterback position being played,” Herbert said, “and talking about how we can get the ball to the receivers in a position where they can run with it and allow them to do the things that they’re so good at: making plays.”
To accelerate his adaptation, Herbert has thrown less in practice sessions and done plenty of drills without a football — two markers that are simply unlike the seven-season veteran, who is known to sling the rock plenty at practice and in games.
McDaniel and Harbaugh added that, besides helping Herbert adjust his feet, keeping the ball out of their quarterback’s hands during the offseason will help him stay fresh later in the regular season.
Herbert is on board, but made it clear he does not require any maintenance.
“I’ve thrown a lot of footballs, and it’s May and June and I didn’t think it was as necessary to throw as much now,” Herbert said. “And do everything I can to get the footwork ready and get the offense down. The throws, they’ll be there. We’ve got plenty of time in camp and throughout [organized team activities] to get timing. I think it’s been smart by everyone, taking it easy.”
Herbert added that it’s better to focus on where his feet are now rather than in a live, meaningful game. However, Harbaugh and McDaniel said Herbert is ramping up his throwing in practice with training camp looming.
The Chargers expect big things out of McDaniel’s offense after they averaged a subpar 21.6 points per game in 2025.
Harbaugh and McDaniel are hopeful for career years from Quentin Johnston, Ladd McConkey and Tre’ Harris — exactly what the wideouts want to hear.
“As you all know … the timing, that’s a different aspect for us than we’re used to, but I think it’s great,” McConkey said. “It just gets the ball in the playmakers’ hands and lets us go to work.”
Before any dreams of the Chargers winning a Super Bowl on their home SoFi Stadium turf can come true next season, Herbert must simply get his footing, with his feet and new playbook.
“I’m sure you guys are eager to see him execute in a high regard in the stuff that we’re doing,” McDaniel said. “You got to be patient … that’s been part of the very calculated, very deliberate, intentional process that we take into the offseason.”
