Good players make the game routine, and good players make the game easier. However, elite players will complete some bizarre moves, and those decisions and actions are unimaginable to ordinary people.
When Herbert threw a 60-yard bomb hit Jaylen Gayton this week, I had to marvel: Herbert was simply too strong, so young, so stable.
Herbert was already very good in his rookie season last season, with PFF winning contributions surpassing 66 percent of the league's players, and this season's number exceeding the league's 98 percent, and it looks like he's one of the league's best quarterbacks.
Long pass offense
The tactical command of Lightning offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi has been controversial, as he often let the top arm-gifted quarterback play the short pass system. The actual result: Although only 20th in long-pass attempts, Herbert's number of yards, completion rate, and quarterback pass ratings per attempt were second in the league.
It can be seen that no matter what kind of situation and what kind of passing combination, Herbert can find the perfect passing position and passing timing. Plus, he avoids disasters that are hard for everyone else to avoid – rarely passing the ball to dangerous places. Of his 45 long passes, there was only one potential misstep pass, the league's fewest.
Direct retreat pass
Lombardi's offense is full of tough passes: the lack of fake run passes, the lack of RPO, all straight back passes. Few people have shouldered such high mental and physical pressure on a rookie contract like Herbert, whose 384 slot went straight back to the fourth highest in the league. Of the 19 quarterbacks in the league who directly retreated more than 300 gears, Herbert's 19 touchdowns ranked third, ranking ninth with 7.2 yards per slot, seventh with a true shooting percentage of 76 percent, and seventh with a quarterback pass score of 94.5. In addition, 5 potential misses are the fewest passes.
To confuse the opponent without any fake movements, but also to read the route and defend the opponent efficiently, it requires a combination of high-level thinking processing ability and arm talent.
Herbert succeeded because of his ability to identify open receivers, and when faced with area defense, his observations were often patient to the third or fourth target.
He is also good at spotting opportunities for misplaced attacks and defenses, and when the opponent uses a tight-knit person to stare at people, he will find the inside twisting route to attack.
And at some special moments, he can find those fleeting long-pass attack gaps, using rocket artillery arms to attack.
Face poor protection and pressure
As a top quarterback, I won't stop Herbert from playing under tough circumstances. He has faced 157 gears of pressure so far, the league's 12th-plus. His quarterback rating is sixth out of 30 quarterbacks, and while he ranks 19th in true shooting percentage and 22nd in pass depth, he also has the fifth-highest pass rate over the first offense. Of course, as a precocious young man, Herbert's potential missteps to pass the ball are still the fewest.
After facing pressure, the quarterback left the original pocket of the pass, Herbert has 99 such passes, the eighth most in the league, of which each gear gets 8.1 yards, quarterback pass score of 92.6, true shooting rate of 69% and PFF pass score of 60.3 are all in the top ten of the league.
In an era when elite quarterbacks were needed to make great video game-style passes, Herbert could make brilliant shots even if they were forced out of their places.
Three gears to win
In the end, no peer could have made it so easy to convert as he did. Among the 24 quarterbacks who underwent 100-file three-gear transitions, Herbert's PFF pass rating was the first in the league, the quarterback pass score was fifth, the pass rate that crossed the first line of attack ranked sixth, the true shooting rate was ninth, and potential mistakes were again ranked in the top three.
In the transition gear where you're most likely to see raids, tight guards, double highs, or bizarre fronts, Herbert combines physical characteristics with the ability to constantly adjust with defensive changes to help the team move the first attack chain.
Herbert has been embarrassed by the lack of coordination, any defense and any game situation this season, although the team's coaching, player personnel and offensive and defensive systems have all changed drastically in the past offseason, and he almost single-handedly dragged the Lightning into the playoffs.
Ten teams in the American League today have a winning number between 7 and 9, and the Lightning need key people to lead them forward. And when it comes to the playoffs, any team needs a person who can turn things around with their individual ability.
Maybe this year, Herbert was the one to trust.