Battle For No. 1 Overall: Justin Herbert, Oregon

Justin Herbert will begin the 2019 college football season as a surefire first-round pick who has the potential to become the first overall selection in the 2020 NFL draft.

Oregon QB Justin Hebert has been on scouts’ radars since the beginning of last season. In fact, he was expected to declare for the 2019 NFL draft.  He didn’t have the year he many predicted, however, and he decided to return to Oregon for his senior season.

Herbert possesses every major trait you want from a quarterback prospect — accuracy, arm strength, escapability, intelligence, and size. He just needs to become more consistent.

Part of the issue Herbert faced last year was the lack of talent surrounding him outside of receiver Dillon Mitchell, who ultimately was selected in the seventh round last April by the Minnesota Vikings. Herbert will have a promising wideout to throw to in 2019, too. Penn State transfer Juwan Johnson signed with Oregon and will bring his four-star pedigree to the offense.

Herbert will also have the comfort of sitting behind one of the best offensive lines in the country; three of their returning five received an 83.9 or higher grade from Pro Football Focus last season.

An issue Herbert faced in 2018 was poor play calling. Part of the problem stems from the fact that Oregon doesn’t have one principal offensive voice. According to Ducks Sports’ Ken Woody:

"“Most teams have their offensive coordinator call the plays. Coach Mario Cristobal has two coordinators… Arroyo is responsible for calling plays and they go through Cristobal, so it may not be clear who’s to blame when a certain call goes awry during the game.”"

As it currently stands, it appears Cristobal has loosened up his control; Marcus Arroyo is currently listed as the team’s offensive coordinator as opposed to his former label, co-offensive coordinator.

Perhaps Herbert and Oregon’s offense will hit their stride in 2019. If they do, there’s no reason to expect anything less than a monster year of production from Herbert, who when factoring in his NFL starter’s traits, will be high on the list of players fighting for the first overall pick all season long.