Justin Herbert Has Taken More Punishment Than Any Quarterback Since 2020

When the Los Angeles Chargers drafted Justin Herbert sixth overall in 2020, they believed they had found the kind of quarterback who could carry a franchise for the next decade and a half, and for long stretches, he has looked every bit the part.

What nobody could have predicted, however, was just how much physical punishment the former Oregon star would be asked to absorb along the way, and six-plus seasons into his career, the numbers have become impossible to ignore.

No quarterback in the NFL has been hit more often than Herbert since he arrived in the league, and the gap between him and everyone else is not particularly close.

He has now been hit more than 640 times in regular-season play, making him the only passer to cross the 600 mark over that span, and he also leads all quarterbacks in pressures faced, with well over 1,400 since his rookie year.

Add in a career sack total that has climbed to nearly 240, and the picture that emerges is of a quarterback who has spent a startling share of his professional life on his back.

The 2025 season captured both the brilliance and the burden of Herbert’s situation better than any other.

With both starting tackles, Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, lost to season-ending injuries, Herbert was sacked 54 times during the regular season and still dragged the Chargers to an 11-6 record and a playoff berth.

This run prompted Khalil Mack to call him the most mentally tough player he had ever been around.

That toughness was tested again in the Wild Card round in Foxborough, where the Patriots sacked him six times in a lopsided 16-3 loss that served as a fitting and painful end to the year.

The hope entering 2026 was that a healthier offensive line and a new scheme under offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, built around quicker throws and more movement, would finally keep Herbert clean.

Instead, the punishment has only continued, as he has already been sacked 21 times through six games while the Chargers have stumbled to a 0-6 start.

The production has suffered right alongside the protection, with Herbert throwing eight interceptions and posting a passer rating well below anything he has produced in previous seasons. Sunday’s loss in Kansas City featured four more sacks and another stalled offense.

It would be easy to look at those numbers and conclude that Herbert has simply regressed, but that view ignores the cumulative effect of years spent standing in collapsing pockets.

Quarterbacks are not built to absorb the volume of contact Herbert has taken, and the concern among those around the league is that the damage may eventually shorten a career that once looked destined for longevity.

With the Chargers heading into their bye before facing the Rams on November 1, Jim Harbaugh and the front office face a decision that goes beyond one lost season, because protecting Herbert is no longer a matter of winning games so much as preserving the most important investment the franchise has ever made.