Heading into the offseason, all signs pointed to Taylor Heinicke holding down the QB2 role behind Justin Herbert. It made sense—Heinicke’s a 32-year-old veteran who already backed up Herbert in 2024. To back it up, he also signed a one-year, $6.2 million contract extension in March this year. Even with Trey Lance coming in, the script seemed clear: Heinicke would be the safety net, keeping Lance’s uneven trajectory in check.

But as the offseason unfolds, the storyline might be shifting. And Jim Harbaugh is expected to make a change in the depth chart. CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr recently analyzed 14 NFL veterans in danger of being cut ahead of the regular season. And as it turns out, Heinicke seems to be the odd man out from the Chargers. The crystal? His uninspiring preseason performance so far. “Heinicke has been uninspiring this preseason and is 32 years old,” Kerr writes. “If the Chargers keep just two quarterbacks, Lance gets the edge over Heinicke.”

Though it won’t be wrong to say that Lance has an underwhelming NFL career so far, even though he’s been a former first-rounder. But over the last three exhibition games, the 25-year-old has made a strong case, clearly outshining his 32-year-old counterpart. We’ll study it piece by piece. In the opener against the Lions (34-7 win), Lance went 13-of-20 for 120 yards, adding a couple of TDs with zero interceptions. Heinicke? He didn’t see the field.

Week 2 versus the Saints (27-13 win) gave Heinicke a shot, but the results were underwhelming. Lance completed 7-of-14 for 55 yards with no scores or picks, while Heinicke went just 1-of-5. Week 3 against the Rams (23-22 loss)? Lance looked solid with 7-of-15 for 121 yards; Heinicke lagged behind, 6-of-11 for 56 yards. That said, the only advantage Heinicke has over Lance at the moment is an edge in experience, given that he has thrown over 800 more passes in the NFL than Lance.

That said, he clearly seems to be the odd man out before the season begins. Meanwhile, Trey Lance may be able to take his game to the next level behind Justin Hebert and under Harbaugh’s coaching as the preseason finale approaches.

Justin Herbert’s backup will continue to turn heads in the preseason finale

Following a limited action in the third preseason game against the Rams, Coach Harbaugh is set to bench Justin Herbert in the preseason finale against the 49ers. Herbert completed 2-of-5 passes for 46 yards against the Rams before eventually calling it a day. In his absence, Harbaugh confirmed that Lance will kick things off against the Niners on Saturday. And yes, he will eventually be replaced by Heinicke later in the game.

With the regular season inches closer, Lance will start against his former team as the 49ers originally picked him in the first round (No. 3 overall) of the 2021 NFL draft. “Same as I’ve approached these other ones,” the 25-year-old said when asked about how he’ll approach the game against his former team. “Just trying to build on it, build on what we’ve done these first three and come out with the win.”

Lance appeared in six games in his rookie season before taking over as a full-time starter in 2022. But a season-ending ankle injury cut his season short. And Brock Purdy quickly moved up to take the top spot on the depth chart. Fast forward to now, and with a solid performance over the past three preseason games, Lance is expected to get the QB2 shot behind Herbert. As for Taylor Heinicke? We’ll see if he’ll be QB3 or if Harbaugh decides to cut ties with him.