If recent practices are any indication, Greg Roman believes Justin Herbert is in for a massive 2025 season.
"When you watch him out there right now, he can run practice. A big difference," Roman said.
Of course, the Chargers Offensive Coordinator also expected Herbert to be ahead of where he was at this point last year when Roman was installing the basics of his offense.
But a year later and Herbert — and the entire Bolts offense — has looked sharp so far in the voluntary offseason.
"If you were watching our practices this time of year last year and this time of year this year, that would answer itself," Roman said last week on the *Chargers Weekly* podcast with Matt "Money" Smith.
"It's really important, huge. The benefit of having time on task together, working together, understanding each other better," Roman added. "Understanding what I'm looking for, how he might be looking to do things. That working symbiosis, it's very important. Our guys are out there working and it's completely different than it was last year. We're a lot further ahead."
Roman went into detail with Smith on how the Chargers endured an up-and-down 2024 season offensively as Herbert dealt with multiple injuries.
He missed three weeks in training camp with an injury to the plantar fascia in his right foot. Herbert then suffered a severely sprained left ankle in Week 2 that limited his mobility for a few weeks.
"It was a little choppy at times," Roman said with a laugh.
He added: "It was kind of the perfect storm in that regard. We had to bob and weave a little bit there, rope a dope if you will. That's tough to do in this league."
Roman said the Chargers spent the first month of the season playing catch up but still managed to win 11 games and make the playoffs.
"We had a great offseason and then Justin missed most of training camp," Roman said. "The month of September for us last year was training camp in a big way.
"We got out of it 2-2 but if you really want to look at our offense, you need to look at October through the end of the year to see where we rank and all that," Roman added.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Chargers offense ranked 13th in EPA per play (0.032) for the entire 2024 season.
But if we look at Weeks 6 through 18, the Bolts were seventh overall at 0.071.
The hope, Roman said, is that the Bolts hit the ground running in Week 1 and produced a more stable and balanced offense in 2025.
Here are five other topics Roman addressed last week:
On Herbert's leadership:
"This guy is a sniper. I think he should be in the MVP discussion every year and I know he was last year. He's that type of player, an MVP type of player. He doesn't care about all that, he just wants to go out and win. But as far as his mind, it's highly impressive. His ability to take in a ton of information and disseminate it quickly. A-plus. His ability to throw the ball? A-plus. Toughness? A-plus. This guy is a special person, special player and we're looking forward to really trying to push the envelope this year."
On physicality being a key offensive staple:
"Physicality has got to be a part of it. It's got to be. If it's not, it will hold you back. In this league, I can point to the most recent Super Bowl champion, for example. If you can control the trenches, to really gives you a lot of flexibility to open up what you do and do a variety of things well. That's going to be a big point of focus for us."
"If you can't [control the line of scrimmage] then your running game is going to be spotty at best. Even anemic, where people don't respect it. And your pass protection will be suspect. So now, you're backing yourself into a corner."
On Joe Alt ahead of Year 2:
"Joe Alt, I think you're going to see a hands down All-Pro this year. Hands down. I can see it right now. Last year he was 21 years old and he was just like Clifford the Big red Dog, just figuring things out. He's really worked hard this offseason. He's getting into his strength. And he walked into my office the day after the season and went through a litany of things he feels he can do better. He's already doing them out here. Just elite level type stuff."
On Ladd McConkey's rookie season:
"He wasn't a surprise but he was such a weapon. So dependable. We were able to do things with Ladd in Year 1 that you generally don't do with a guy until Year 3 or 4. His football IQ, just a lot of different things to create and get him open. It's next level, graduate level stuff."
"We're going to move him around because the guy has got some serious talent. Just his will to get it done, just look at his production in the playoff game. He's a guy we're going to continue to grow with. But when they double Ladd, you have to play the percentages and the ball needs to go somewhere else."
On the Chargers RB room:
"Najee [Harris], watching him out here right now, I am blown away. His knowledge of the game, his ability, his movement skills … it's exciting. And then Omarion [Hampton], jeez. And Kimani[Vidal] is looking really good. He's really taken a step and has an extra gear this year and is really asserting himself out there. We've got a heck of a crew there."
