Former Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert had one of the best seasons ever for an NFL rookie quarterback but to his coaches in college, it wasn’t all that surprising. Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal has always spoken highly of the skills that Herbert brought to the Ducks for Cristobal’s first two seasons as Oregon’s coach. So for Cristobal, Herbert having success at the next stage wasn’t much of a shock.
Talking with NFL Network’s Andrew David Siciliano on NFL Now on Monday, Cristobal spoke about his former quarterback and the confidence they placed in his NFL future, even before the 2020 NFL Draft.
“You can go back to every single interview and every single opportunity we had to speak about Justin, we always felt and said from day one that he was the best one in the draft,” Cristobal said.
“So in terms of people being surprised, Justin’s not surprised and his teammates aren’t surprised and neither is anyone in this building or the Oregon community.” Cristobal added, “So I’m not saying I told you so to anybody but we’re super proud of him.”
As soon as Herbert announced he was coming back for the 2019 college football season, Cristobal began speaking about what the senior quarterback could bring to an NFL franchise and that was amplified as the draft neared last Spring.
Herbert would eventually be taken at No. 6 overall by the Los Angeles Chargers, the third quarterback selected in last year’s draft. Herbert was given the opportunity for an emergency start in week 2 of his NFL career and rode that to win the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
“He’s just getting started and this is just the beginning for him,” Cristobal concluded.
The former Duck finished his rookie campaign with 4,336 yards with 31 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Herbert broke a number of rookie records including most touchdowns by a rookie quarterback, most completions by a rookie quarterback, most passing touchdowns by a rookie quarterback, and came just 38 yards shy of breaking the NFL rookie passing yard record.
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