JustinHerbert

News: 3 hours agoHerbert completed 20 of 32 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's 26-8 win over the Saints. He added 49 yards on four rushing attempts.

Spin: Herbert threw second-half touchdowns of 60 and nine yards to Ladd McConkey as the Chargers pulled away for an easy win. The fifth-year quarterback's rushing total was bolstered by a career-long 38-yard run in the first quarter. Herbert has averaged 314 passing yards in his last two games after averaging only 163 passing yards per game in his first five starts this season. He seems to be fully recovered from the ankle injury that bothered him earlier in the season, which bodes well for Herbert's chances of building on his recent uptick in Week 9 against the Browns.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: While Herbert is one of the league's most talented quarterbacks, he is saddled with starting for a Jim Harbaugh rebuild that's precariously thin on receiving talent. In the past three seasons, Herbert is third in passing yards per game (274.1), fourth among qualifiers in Total QBR (65.3) and he has averaged 19.1 fantasy points per game. That latter number placed eighth at the position, in large part because Herbert couldn't get things done behind a sputtering running game and with Mike Williams and Keenan Allen missing time due to injury in 2023. Allen and Williams are now elsewhere, and Harbaugh appears committed to a run-oriented offense. Herbert might struggle to deliver the fantasy goods, making him more of a matchup play for 2024.