In theory, this season promised to bring plenty of promise for the Los Angeles Chargers, as offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel was seen as one of the better available offensive coordinator hires. In practice, the Chargers’ season went off the rails quickly; they are 0-5, a hole from which no team has ever recovered to make the playoffs, and they have been awful in all phases of the game.
Justin Herbert has received MVP votes twice in his career, most recently in 2024, but this season has been the worst of his career so far. He’s been just QB24 this season by fantasy standards.
Herbert is still rostered in 64% of Yahoo Sports fantasy leagues, but only 26% of managers are starting him, so the writing is on the wall. Los Angeles has a tricky road matchup against the division- and AFC-leading Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, which surely won’t help Herbert get his season back on track.
Results and Usage
Prior to the 2026 season, Herbert had never completed fewer than 65% of his passes in a season, and he had the lowest interception percentage in the league in 2024. That’s all changed now; so far, Herbert has completed just 59.4% of his passes, is tied for the league lead with seven interceptions, and has yet to crack the 1,000-yard mark for the season. 2026 marks new career lows in success rate, sack rate, yards per game, passer rating, QBR, net yards per attempt, and adjusted net yards per attempt. In fact, he ranks dead last league-wide in QBR and adjusted net yards per attempt.
Herbert has been dealt a rough hand, as his 62.2% expected completion percentage is the 14th-lowest among qualified passers this season, but he hasn’t done a good job with those passes, completing them at a rate 2.8 percentage points lower than expected. He’s been the second-worst among 40 qualified quarterbacks by Pro Football Focus’ standards, ahead of only Atlanta Falcons third-stringer Cooper Rush, who was only thrust into action because of Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa’s injuries. Herbert has made turnover-worthy plays at the highest rate among any signal-caller with at least 100 dropbacks and bad throws at the league’s fourth-highest rate. To add insult to injury, Herbert also leads the league in fumbles, coughing the ball up six times.
Future Outlook
To be fair, he has gotten somewhat unlucky this season, as his receivers have already registered 10 drops, the highest rate he’s ever faced. However, his high bad-throw rate, low on-target rate, and ball-security issues aren’t at all related to his receivers, and each of his four top targets was on the team last season as well. The Chargers could get healthier at wideout eventually — each of Ladd McConkey, Brenen Thompson, and Quentin Johnston is questionable for this week’s game, with Tre’ Harris doubtful — but McConkey, Johnston, and Harris have each played at least four games, and Herbert hasn’t had a single decent game.
Everything looks all out of sorts for Los Angeles. The Chargers were hit hard by the injury bug again, as they signed center Tyler Biadasz in the offseason before he tore his ACL. Rashawn Slater, their second-best high-volume pass-blocker, was placed on IR after suffering a high-ankle sprain in Week 4 against the Seattle Seahawks, and his tackle partner, Joe Alt, also missed Week 5 with a neck injury. As a result, Los Angeles has posted the second-worst pass-blocking grades in the league. Alt’s potential return could help, but even with him active and on the field for nearly two-thirds of the Chargers’ offensive snaps, Herbert has faced pressure at the third-highest rate and recorded the league’s fourth-worst offensive grades in such situations. McDaniel’s run-forward scheme and impressive three-headed running back trio lower Herbert’s ceiling too.
He’s certainly not worth starting against the Chiefs, who have allowed the seventh-fewest FPTS per game to opposing quarterbacks this season. Kansas City is one of just four teams with at least as many interceptions as touchdown passes allowed, and opponents have only completed 61.2% of their passes against the Chiefs while recording just a 76.8 passer rating. Despite losing both Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson during the offseason, Kansas City has retooled nicely, as sixth overall pick Mansoor Delane has allowed just a 76.0 passer rating on his targets while recording a pick-six. Add in Arrowhead Stadium’s notorious atmosphere, and Herbert is clearly untrustworthy. He had his second-worst fantasy performance of the season at this venue in 2025.
