Chargers GM Uses Justin Herbert as Example of Different Roles in NFL vs College

The game varies in a multitude of ways at different levels.

There have been numerous times in which a player thrives at a certain position in college and even their  first couple of years in the NFL only for a team to completely switch it up to better suit what they are trying to build.

In other cases, a prospect may be struggling at their natural position and could get moved to a different one in hopes of better results. Chargers fans should look no further than their former first-round pick DJ Fluker, who is in the midst of an NFL comeback right now, as a prime example.

Former #NFL OT DJ Fluker was at Bama’s Pro Day and his transformation is wild 😳

Before After pic.twitter.com/3zcAgcSG1a

— uSTADIUM (@uSTADIUM) March 21, 2023

Teams are always looking to maximize the talent that they have and will tinker with the responsibilities of their roster no matter how many stars they have.

The Chargers continue to do this today and LA's GM Tom Telesco recently joined the Guilty as Charged podcast to discuss the current state of the team following the 2023 Draft and revealed that their scouts pay close attention to the versatility of prospects and make notes of how they can use them differently.

Telesco pinpointed how star QB Justin Herbert was used differently during his time at Oregon versus with the Bolts as an example.

"Those college coaches, they're smart," said Telesco. "They know they have to win, they're going to put that player in the best position possible to help them win. They're not so much worried about how he's going to fit the LA Chargers when he gets there."

(Via Guilty as Charged)

"It's no different than Justin Herbert at Oregon," said Telesco. "They used Justin the way that was really beneficial to them. They won a lot of games, won the PAC-12 tournament, won the rose bowl, scored a lot of points. We use Justin a different way here, we had to project moving forward how he'd run our offense."

(Via Guilty as Charged)

Anytime a player makes a jump from level to level, these types of changes should be expected. However, they are fulfilling their dreams and will look to thrive no matter what is asked of them.