Former Chargers nose tackle Breiden Fehoko rips GM Joe Hortiz and calls out the Spanos family, arguing LA keeps failing Justin Herbert after an 0-2 start.
Justin Herbert has no shortage of defenders these days. The most vocal one used to line up on the other side of the ball.
Breiden Fehoko, the former Los Angeles Chargers nose tackle who has turned into one of the organization's sharpest critics, took his frustration to a new level Thursday.
Speaking on his show, Fehoko called out the Spanos family and team president Ed McGuire by name, urging ownership to take a hard look at what their franchise quarterback endures season after season.
Then he zeroed in on general manager Joe Hortiz, declaring that Hortiz should have been fired two years ago.
Strictly speaking, that's not possible. Hortiz only took the job in January 2024, a week after Jim Harbaugh was hired, so two years ago, he was just getting settled in.
Not a new crusade
Anyone following Fehoko shouldn't be surprised. He has spent months arguing that the Chargers need a complete overhaul, and he has pushed back on fans who dismiss his takes as attention-seeking.
His case rests on experience, and he believes what he saw there explains what fans see on Sundays.
Hortiz isn't his only target. Fehoko has also questioned Harbaugh's credibility and compared the Chargers to the Browns, only with a nicer public image. The common thread in all of it is simple.
In his view, the front office and coaching staff have never built a roster worthy of Herbert's talent.
Herbert keeps absorbing the damage
The numbers give Fehoko plenty of ammunition. Seven seasons into his career, Herbert has been sacked 231 times. He's also thrown 61 interceptions and fumbled 37 times.
On paper, that looks like a quarterback problem. Look closer, and it looks like a quarterback who has spent most of his career running for his life.
The 2026 season has opened with more of the same. Against Arizona, a team that won just three games a year ago, Herbert threw for only 209 yards, went down three times, and led an offense that couldn't reach 300 yards.
The Raiders game was worse. Herbert passed for 192 yards with two interceptions, and Los Angeles put the ball on the turf six times.
To his credit, Herbert didn't point fingers afterward. He said the team's play wasn't close to acceptable and that fixing it falls on the players.
Is he right?
Two losses don't define a season, and the Harbaugh-Hortiz regime did bring stability to a franchise that badly needed it.
Still, Fehoko is touching on questions that have followed the Chargers for years. Can they keep Herbert upright? Can they give him reliable weapons? Are they wasting the prime of a franchise quarterback?
Those questions won't go away until the results change, and until they do, former players and fans like Fehoko will keep asking them, loudly.
