NFL analyst raves about surprisingly 'comfortable' Chargers quarterback Trey Lance

In his final preseason game of 2024 - a full-game audition to the be the Dallas Cowboys' backup quarterback behind Dak Prescott - Trey Lance imploded. In a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, he threw five interceptions and played his way into a No. 3 role.

A year and a team later, the former No. 3 overall draft choice sparkled in his preseason debut. Now playing for the Chargers, he completed nine of his first 11 passes if last week's Hall of Fame game. He threw two touchdowns. He did not suffer an interception.

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After the San Francisco 49ers traded him and the Cowboys cut him, most of the NFL was ready to forget about Lance. He was written off as one of the league's all-time busts. Enter Jim Harbaugh. He coached up Andrew Luck at Stanford. He squeezed the potential out of J.J. McCarthy at Michigan.

It's only one preseason game, but here comes Lance. Not only were his stats better, he looked comfortable - even confident in the pocket. Cowboys fans noticed, as did Sports Illustrated NFL writer Albert Breer.

"I loved seeing Trey Lance look so comfortable in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday night," Breer writes. "Sure, it’s only the preseason, and a game in which neither team was really playing anybody. But the calm demeanor Lance exhibited out there, and how at ease he looked moving around and finding open receivers, was great to see. He’s a good guy, and a good worker, and still has tools."

No one - not Harbaugh nor Breer - is expecting a miracle. Justin Herbert is the Chargers' star quarterback. Veteran Taylor Heinicke is the backup. Lance is in a fight with DJ Uiagalelei for a roster spot that would likely land him on the practice squad.

"I think it’s going to be tough for him to make it as a starter," Breer writes. "What I’ve always heard about him is that he just needs to play, and I’m not sure who could afford him the chance to do that, absent some sort of injury emergency somewhere. If you draft a guy in the top five, as the Niners did with Lance, you can afford to give a quarterback the runway to gain experience and knowhow in the name of development. When you’re taking a flier on a guy, you can’t."

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Perhaps it was only a one-game wonder. Or maybe it was a last-ditch, prime-time resurrection of a career.

Writes Breer, "At the very least, he’s with a coaching staff, with Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman, that’ll know how to get the most out of him and bring him along."

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