3-Time Super Bowl Champ Scott Pioli Believes Chargers Must Surround Justin Herbert With Right People

Does he have a point?

Longtime New England Patriots executive Scott Pioli appears to be tentatively excited for star Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert's new opportunity with the fresh coach-executive tandem of Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz.

During a new conversation with Bleav In Chargers podcast hosts Matt "Money" Smith and Lorenzo Neal, Pioli explained how he is convinced Los Angeles must equip Herbert with the right tools to win this fall -- on and off the field. 

But first, the three-time Super Bowl champion unpacked how Herbert's excellent counting stats so far didn't necessarily mean he was a true winner in the traditional sense of the word.

"When I talked about when I took about production from the quarterback position, it has nothing to do with statistics," Pioli said. "There's a lot of people that put up great statistics, but if they don't have the infrastructure around them, they don't necessarily win. And to me, the only metrics that matters with the quarterback in terms of production is winning."

Pioli noted elsewhere on the pod that giving the one-time Pro Bowler the proper help would prove imperative. 

"Here's what I'll say about Chargers," Pioli continued. "Part of what you need to be as a good quarterback is you do need to have the right coach, the right coordinator and the right people around you and folks are going to buy in. You have to have the right offensive line."

"It doesn't mean you have to have five Pro Bowlers, but you have to have, I think, one of the best awkward offseason acquisitions that the Chargers have made this year already is Mike Devlin," Pioli said. "He's going to make that offensive line better and that's really going to help Justin Herbert. They have the right guy. They've just got to get him becoming productive in terms of wins, if that makes sense."