Justin Herbert thriving as rookie QB for the Chargers

He is preoccupied now. Coaching a different team and a different quarterback. Meaning he can’t meticulously comb through Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert’s game tape anymore.

But when UNLV football coach Marcus Arroyo sees the highlights of his former pupil, he’s not the least bit surprised by what he sees. Just proud. Of the throws, completions, scrambles and touchdowns.

He’s all too familiar with Herbert’s tantalizing talents after all. The size, the arm strength, the accuracy, the poise.

And now the NFL is, too.

“He’s got all the tools,” said Arroyo, who coached Herbert for three years as Oregon’s offensive coordinator. “Now he’s actually got some big-time weapons, too. It’s been really good. I’m fired up by it.”

In Herbert the Chargers have found the heir apparent to Pro Bowl quarterback Philip Rivers. A prototypical passer with the arm strength and accuracy to execute any throw. The mobility to elude defensive linemen in the pocket and linebackers outside of the pocket. The acumen to know when to do what. The poise to perform without requisite preparation during an unprecedented year in the NFL’s history.

He’s already accounted for 1,820 passing yards and 15 TD passes, becoming the only rookie quarterback in the NFL’s 100-year history to post those totals in his first six starts. He’s also the second rookie to throw three TDs in four of his first six starts.

The Raiders will contend with him for the first time at 1:05 p.m. Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

“He’s shown the ability to throw the ball into tight windows. He’s made athletic plays. He’s shown great toughness,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. “You have to be impressed with the kid, with no offseason program. Give me a break. This guy is the real deal.”

A game of inches

Football is a game of inches. A cliche for most, a truth for Herbert, then a lanky junior quarterback at Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon, who sprinted down the sideline one fall Friday night. An opposing defender closed in on Herbert and hit him low, buckling his knee upon impact and foreshadowing a dreadful ACL tear.

“I’m devastated,” said Herbert’s father, Mark, recalling his initial reaction to the injury. “Just devastated.”

Except Herbert didn’t tear an ACL, by the grace of a few inches. He broke a growth plate instead, needing all of three months to recover instead of nine, 10, 11 or 12. A torn ACL could have sidelined Herbert during a spring and summer that proved crucial for his recruitment. The broken growth plate only intensified his focus on football.

“Watching his buddies that he grew up with, kids on his block that he played with, kids on the street…he wasn’t a part of that,” the elder Herbert said. “He missed it incredibly. I think (the injury) was the switch that turned it on.”

Herbert actually healed in time to play basketball for Sheldon that winter. And he grew another inch to stand a sturdy 6 feet 6 inches, increasing his appeal to Division I programs. He was content to play at Montana State, an FCS school in the modest town of Bozeman, Montana, where his older brother, Mitch, played wide receiver.

But he’d long dreamed of playing for Oregon, his grandfather’s alma mater some two miles from his childhood home. And lo and behold, the Ducks offered him a scholarship at the beginning of his senior season.

“He could throw the ball down the field better than any quarterback we had here at Sheldon. And we had some pretty good quarterbacks,” said Herbert’s high school coach, Lane Johnson. “Just the size stood out, and once he started to move, it’s like, ‘holy cow.’ ”

Of course, Johnson — and others at Sheldon — had no way of knowing that Herbert would play his way into the annals of Oregon football lore. Or into the first round of the NFL draft. But their guy went on to start at Oregon as a true freshman and emerge as a top pro prospect by the beginning of his junior season.

“It was special,” said Johnson’s son, Jack, who played football with Herbert throughout elementary, middle and high school. “Everybody that’s known him knows he’s worked very hard to get this far and to be doing what he’s doing. … Good things happen to people sometimes. And when there’s an incredible amount of mental and physical capacity to go behind it, they can really do something special.”

From prospect to pro

Herbert’s physical traits are quite conspicuous. Arroyo assured NFL teams before April’s draft that his intangible traits would prove to be, too. He’s humble in nature. Reserved and calm.

More than fit to lead an NFL franchise.

“Justin has an influence when he goes into these environments,” Arroyo told the Pac-12 network earlier this year. “Leadership … pure and simple … This kid is special.”

The Chargers certainly believed so, selecting Herbert with the No. 6 overall pick. He began the season as the backup to Tyrod Taylor. But when Taylor’s lung was accidentally punctured by a Chargers team doctor while trying to administer a pain-killing injection before a Week 2 game against the Chiefs, Herbert stepped in and has started the last six games, impressing coach Anthony Lynn with his poise and maturity.

“His physical skills and tools, those are things, we looked at the tape. we saw that,” Lynn said. “I’m not surprised by some of the things I’ve seen that he’s doing. But without having an offseason to get him ready and the way he had to take over, that’s been impressive to me.”

Herbert has maintained his humble, calm demeanor amid a torrid start to his NFL career, seeking only more victories as he navigates the challenges of his rookie season. The Chargers are 2-5, having squandered three leads of 17 points or more this season.

“Adversity is going to happen,” Herbert told reporters this week. “I’m going to make mistakes during the game and I’m going to throw incompletions and interceptions, but it’s all about how you react to that. … It’s all about learning and getting better the next time.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.