If the Los Angeles Chargers' win over the Houston Texans in Week 1 of preseason action was encouraging, especially along the offensive line, their Week 2 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers was anything but.
The Chargers offense struggled to get anything going all night, ultimate losing 17-41 in a game that was tilted by a special-teams touchdown and an absolute lack of a run game on the part of Los Angeles. They posted just 68 total rushing yards on 20 carries, and neither Trey Lance nor DJ Uiagalelei were particularly inspiring during their respective sets of drives.
We did see the offensive starters on the field, though, if only for three downs. Hopefully their matchup next week against the Los Angeles Rams helps them end the preseason on a positive note. But in the meantime, it's still worth digging deeper into this game to see what we can come away with.
10 major (well, some minor) notes from the Chargers' preseason loss to the 49ers
1. Kayode Awosika plays with the starters at LG
While the battle for the starting left guard job was starting to take on a more defined shape in the days leading up to this matchup, the apparent long-term injury to starting center Tyler Biadasz threw a wrench into things. Jake Slaughter will move over to center, where he started the game, and that leaves Kayode Awosika and Branson Taylor as the only real competitors for the lone remaining starting spot along the offensive line.
Awosika seemed to have been carving out a spot as a favorite in the competition anyway, and that was confirmed on Thursday night when he came out at left guard with the rest of Los Angeles' offensive starters. He has some starting experience, having played 11 games over the past four season with the Detroit Lions, but it's hard to feel super confident in this decision until we see him on the field during the regular season.
2. Run blocking looks rough early on— not a ton of space for Keaton Mitchell and company
You can place the blame for this across the entire offensive line— so it's not limited just to Slaughter and the starters. But man, things really did not look good on this front for much of the game.
As mentioned above, the Chargers posted just 68 yards on 20 total carries, but they fared much worse in the first half. It simply seemed like the effort wasn't there for either the first or second-team protectors. Expect this to be a point of emphasis over the coming week for Jim Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel.
3. Chargers can't afford any more injury scares (Brenen Thompson, Branson Taylor, KeAndre Lambert-Smith)
Maybe the 49ers' curse really is contagious? The Chargers lost Biadasz in join practice with San Francisco on Tuesday, and both Kyle Kennard and Quentin Johnston also left practice with seemingly minor lower body injuries. Then, in the first half of their preseason matchup, Brenen Thompson left the game and went to the medical tent, and Taylor went down with an apparent right arm injury before being attended to by trainers.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith went off the field in the second half after a hard hit to the ribs, but there didn't appear to be any concerns post-game about his status.
Any team's goal is to make it through training camp and the preseason without any injuries. It seems as though the Chargers' luck might be quickly running out.
4. Derius Davis took punt returns in the first quarter, with KeAndre Lambert-Smith taking over in the second
It's been hard to truly make heads or tails of the Chargers' presumed competition for the kick/punt returner spots in training camp. Intuitively, Davis would be vulnerable, as he had a down-year last season production-wise and doesn't provide much value to the team outside of special teams duties.
But he continues to get first crack at the position at nearly every turn. He was out there taking the punt return reps in the first quarter. But Lambert-Smith's appearance in the second quarter at least raises the question of if he's involved in a potential competition in any way.
5. Trey Lance looks much more comfortable with the offense— but the ceiling is still pretty low
Lance hasn't looked truly good in either of the Chargers' two preseason games. He struggled heavily to fit the ball into his windows against Houston, and there were multiple mental errors that were easily recognizable just from a cursory view of the tape. He looked more confident and comfortable against San Francisco, completing 10 of his 16 passing attempts for 73 yards and zero touchdowns.
The accuracy is still off, though, and he's not someone that any organization would trust to start more than a single game over the course of a season. DJ Uiagalelei ultimately wasn't much better apart from his touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, which is likely helping Lance defend his QB2 job this offseason.
6. Kimani Vidal still has some major strides to take in McDaniel's offense
As mentioned above, the run blocking across the roster was sub-par on Thursday night, so it's hard to truly hold anything against any of the backs. But Vidal struggled again in this game, posting just six yards on four carries.
He spoke earlier this week about making the adjustment to McDaniel's wide-zone scheme, and he'll need to continue to show flashes through the early part of the regular season if he wants to carve out a consistent role alongside Omarion Hampton and Keaton Mitchell.
7. Rodney Shelley might still have an outside chance to crack the 53-man roster
If there was one standout performer from this game, it was UDFA cornerback Rodney Shelley. He was active in the secondary all night, and he had a pair of major PBUs in the deeper portions of the field.
To this point, it's seemed like fellow UDFA Avery Smith has been in the lead in any looming roster competition. But Smith's lone notable moment of the night was a pass interference call in the end zone. Perhaps this outing helps turn the tides for Shelley, assuming there is a spot in the cornerback room to be claimed.
8. Nadame Tucker's push for the roster may already be set in stone
It was presumed all offseason that Tucker would have a clear path to cracking the 53-man roster and displacing either Kennard or Bud Dupree.
He had his most impressive outing yet against the 49ers, posting three pressures and looking like a real weapon against the O-line that San Francisco threw out there. It remains to be seen what the ripple effect on the rest of the 53-man roster might be, but I'd certainly pencil Tucker in at this point as a member of the Chargers this season.
9. Jacob Spomer's roster chances are looking better by the day
Before Biadasz went down, there were justifiable questions about whether the Chargers would be willing to carry a dedicated backup center on the roster in 2026. Slaughter obviously had positional flexibility, and Cole Strange's experience at center could have given Los Angeles the freedom to leave Spomer off the roster.
They don't have that anymore, and the UDFA took extensive snaps on Thursday— allowing zero pressures on 33 pass-blocking opportunities. If Biadasz's injury ultimately opens up an extra roster spot along the offensive line, don't be surprised if it goes to Spomer.
10. Charlie Kolar seems to be lined up as TE1 in Mike McDaniel's offense
With both Kolar and David Njoku coming in this offseason, there were certainly questions around how McDaniel would balance the workload between that pairing and ascendant pass catcher Oronde Gadsden II.
McDaniel is going to prioritize multiple tight-end sets, but when there's only one tight end on the field, he's going to prioritize blocking ability. Kolar certainly has that, but he also has untapped pass-catching potential— which we saw in the Chargers starters' lone gain of their opening drive. Kolar ultimately saw eight snaps on the night while Njoku saw five, so that's not enough of a sample size to truly conclude anything.
But as of right now, it feels as though Kolar is still the clear-cut option to be the nominal TE1 for the Chargers when the season kicks off.
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