Justin Herbert to stay at Oregon for senior season
One of the top quarterback prospects in the 2019 class if he were to enter the draft, Justin Herbert is staying at Oregon for his senior season.
Justin Herbert was tabbed as one of the top quarterbacks eligible for the 2019 NFL Draft and a possible top-10 pick, which would seem to make a decision to declare early pretty obvious. But as first reported by Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports and The Athletic, and later confirmed by the school, Herbert will return for his senior season at Oregon.
Herbert status for the Ducks’ bowl game was clouded by a shoulder injury suffered in the regular season finale against Oregon State. But earlier in the month it was reported he was healthy and would play against Michigan State in the Redbox Bowl on New Year’s Eve, which should have been a good sign he’d be staying in school.
Herbert staying for his senior season now puts Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins clearly in line to be the first quarterback taken in the 2019 draft, with West Virginia’s Will Grier and Missouri’s Drew Lock the next two. Haskins has his own decision looming as the Buckeyes head into the Rose Bowl, but a first-round grade from the NFL draft advisory board makes that decision a virtual foregone conclusion.
With a now even weaker class of rookie quarterbacks coming in, the group of available veteran quarterbacks to come that includes Nick Foles, Teddy Bridgewater and Joe Flacco now has greater value on the free agent and/or trade markets.
There was one more present under the tree. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/ALeRv0zc1G
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) December 26, 2018
There was a lingering sense Herbert would stay for his senior season at Oregon, right down to not having interviewed any agents as of the flip of the calendar to December. His brother Patrick is also coming to play tight end at Oregon next year after signing a letter of intent last week, so the opportunity to throw passes to his brother seems to be a factor.
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Herbert is embracing the risk of a serious injury, or simply a bad year, to diminish his draft stock for 2020. Sam Bradford did something similar after winning the Heisman Trophy in 2008, then was injured early in the 2009 season. But Bradford still went No. 1 overall in the 2010 draft, as the last of the first overall picks to get a bank-breaking contract. Herbert will be hoping for a similar end game after he fulfills all his college eligibility.