5 things to know about Justin Herbert, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft
Two years is a long time.
Just two years ago, Oregon’s Justin Herbert was ESPN’s top-rated quarterback.
Only, a lot can happen in 16 months, like Herbert announcing that he was staying at Oregon for his senior year.
Even though that caused him to fall behind LSU’s Joe Burrow on draft charts, Herbert ended his college career with 3,471 passing years, 32 touchdowns, and six interceptions.
Here are five things to know about Herbert, who was selected with the No. 6 pick by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2020 NFL Draft on Thursday night:
1. Even though he had a lot riding — NFL expectations wise — if he were to have skipped his senior year at Oregon, Herbert didn’t want to do that to his teammates. “I wanted to come back to finish out with the guys that we came in with,” Herbert said at the NFL combine, according to the New York Post. “Talked about going 4-8 my freshman year and a group of seniors that stuck through it and ended up going 12-2 and fell short of the college football semifinal but won the Rose Bowl and these were the things we set out to do.”
2. He’s a multiple sport guy. In high school, along with being a first-team all-state quarterback at Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon, he was also a second-team all-state first baseman in 2015. During the spring season, he hit .400 while scoring six runs. He had 11 RBIs, a 1.98 ERA and 39 strikeouts over 42.1 innings.
3. He was also a basketball player in high school. According to Fox News, Herbert was “a starter on the basketball team that fell in the 6A state championship game during his sophomore year.”
4. In 2018, Herbert was the Google Cloud Academic All-American Team Member of the Year for Division I Football at Oregon. He had a 4.06 grade-point average while majoring in biology. “It’s a really special award,” Herbert said to GoDucks.com. “I have to give thanks to all the people at the Jaqua Center who spend so much time with us and have given us so many great opportunities.”
5. He was the first Oregon quarterback since 1983 to start as a true freshman for the Ducks.
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 6:05 PM with the headline "5 things to know about Justin Herbert, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft."