Trent Dilfer calls Oregon’s Justin Herbert a ‘phenomenal prospect’
By Bryan Perez
Oregon QB Justin Herbert is one of the most widely discussed prospects for the 2020 NFL draft and will begin the 2019 college football season as a legitimate contender to be the No. 1 overall pick next April.
It’s easy to understand why there’s so much excitement around Herbert and his potential to become a franchise quarterback in the NFL. He has the size, arm talent and intelligence to be a star even if he’s still somewhat rough around the edges entering his final season as a Duck.
Trent Dilfer, who won a Super Bowl during his playing days with the Baltimore Ravens and now spends a considerable amount of time developing the next generation of quarterbacks, heaped praise upon Herbert and his upside in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
“He’s got traits you don’t find—a big man with twitch, he’s like Trevor Lawrence that way,” Dilfer said. “There are very few guys that size that have twitch like he does. He’s an exceptional athlete, very compact and efficient with how he moves. He’s explosive. He’s a really good thrower of the football. He’s not a great passer yet, but he can become one. There just aren’t many holes. He’s a phenomenal prospect.”
I reviewed Herbert’s game earlier this summer in our summer scouting series and agree wholeheartedly with Dilfer’s assessment. I compared Herbert as a cross between Josh Allen (Bills) and Mitchell Trubisky (Bears), each of whom was a high first-round pick in their respective draft classes.
Herbert will compete with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa for the right to be crowned king of the quarterback class, and while Georgia’s Jake Fromm will be thrown into that conversation, he doesn’t belong. His lacking arm strength and pedestrian athleticism present more like a Day-2 pick than an early first-rounder.
Tagovailoa should end up producing bigger numbers and will have a higher profile this season, but neither will necessarily help his cause as a draft prospect. Alabama’s offense is loaded with two first-round wide receivers and a third pass-catcher who will come off the board in the second round. If Tagovailoa doesn’t have a monster season, draft analysts will question why. There’s pressure on him to not only play like a pro quarterback but to produce video-game numbers along the way.
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That won’t be the case with Herbert, which will serve as an advantage for him. Sure, he’ll have an impressive box score, but he’ll be viewed more as a traits guy all season long (whether it’s fair to Tagovailoa or not).
This quarterback showdown is going to be one of the most exciting NFL draft storylines of the season.