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Meet Justin Herbert, the next Giants quarterback – Metro US

Meet Justin Herbert, the next Giants quarterback

Meet Justin Herbert, the next Giants quarterback

At the moment, all signs are pointing to Justin Herbert suiting up for the New York Giants in 2019. 

On Monday afternoon, the New York Times reported that while the Giants will likely stand by Eli Manning for the remainder of the 2018 season, which is already lost, the organization will go for a quarterback during the offseason, whether that’s in free agency or at the 2019 NFL Draft. 

At the moment, the Giants are favored to get the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft. Only the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers have as few wins as the Giants, who take on the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. The future of Derek Carr in Oakland is mirky, but the 49ers have a franchise quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo, and the Giants are likely to finish with a worse record than the Raiders. 

The 2019 draft class isn’t nearly as strong as the past selection process that saw Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson all taken in the first round. The Giants had an opportunity to acquire one of those talents with the No. 2 pick, but opted to go with running back Saquon Barkley, who many believe was the best talent in the entire draft. 

Early returns show the Giants made the right choice even if the quarterback position is a huge question mark. 

While Barkley has starred, the Giants’ 1-5 start has them on pace for another lean year and another high pick, making them favorites to land the Oregon quarterback prospect Herbert in the draft come spring. 

That is, if Herbert decides to leave school. Reports are indicating that the junior might return to Oregon next season, per CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora

Scouting Justin Herbert

If Herbert was in the 2018 draft class, he would have likely gone at the very end of the round where Jackson went to the Baltimore Ravens just because of his sample size. 

Herbert played in eight games in each of his first two seasons at Oregon with decent enough results. He averaged just under 1,960 yards per season with a combined 34 touchdowns compared to just nine interceptions. 

This year has seen the junior show plenty of promise to add to his sheer intangibles, which includes an NFL frame at 6-foot-6, 225 pounds.

In seven games, he’s racked up 1,883 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions, including a monster game against Stanford where he put up 346 yards and a touchdown in a loss to the nation’s seventh-ranked team at the time.

There have been some concerns about his accuracy though considering he’s completed just 64.2 of his passes over 23 career games, including a 61.8-percent mark this year. 

Regardless, this is a quarterback with a big arm that can make throws anywhere on the field. Most importantly, especially due to the possibility that he’ll be behind a Giants offensive line that has been one of the worst in football over the last two years, Herbert can make throws on the run. He is a pocket-first quarterback but athletic enough to extend the play and scramble for big gains.