McDaniel's familiarity with Lance's strengths unlocks a hidden offensive potential, shifting doubt to a surprising belief in the backup quarterback.
If you are the type of person to read every post on a Los Angeles Chargers blog, even during a pretty quiet offseason, you might've picked up on a theme:
I don't care for Trey Lance as the backup QB of the Chargers.
I was angry during the 2025 season when Lance was being paid as if he was one of the very best and most reliable backup QBs in the league, and yet he could not step in and lead the team after Justin Herbert broke his hand and needed surgery. Why was he here? Why was he getting paid?
Heading into the offseason, and free agency for Trey Lance, I thought for sure that the Chargers would have a different backup QB in 2026. The name that made the most sense, to me, was Zach Wilson (who recently signed with the New Orleans Saints). Not only is he still very young and filled with potential, he spent last season in Mike McDaniel's offense as the backup QB for the Miami Dolphins.
Instead, the Chargers decided to bring back Trey Lance on a one-year, $2.5M deal. That is, admittedly, a better price than what the team paid to have him on the roster last season. Still, I was angry and I wrote about it.
Joe Hortiz chose that option over signing Wilson or Skylar Thompson, who was drafted by the Dolphins while McDaniel was the head coach and is still currently a free agent. It made zero sense to me, but I think I have stumbled on to at least one reason for it.
I had forgotten that Trey Lance was selected 3rd overall in the 2021 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers just three months after they promoted Mike McDaniel into the position of Offensive Coordinator.
Lance was picked after Trevor Lawrence and, coincidentally enough, Zach Wilson. He was also picked ahead of Justin Fields, Mac Jones, Davis Mills and....that was a rough draft for QBs. Either way, the pick was controversial and was debated for months before the draft and years after. There's no way Mike McDaniel didn't have at least some say in the selection.
Now, it's a little different in San Francisco, where Kyle Shanahan basically runs the offense despite being the head coach. Still, I think McDaniel knows Lance better than he knows Justin Herbert or most of the other players on his Chargers offense now.
I do think there is something to Lance's game, but he's definitely the type of player where the entire offensive gameplan has to be built around his strengths (and away from his weaknesses). That would mean a run-heavy offense with a fast, athletic offensive line and motion to diagnose the defense pre-snap. That's the type of offense McDaniel is known for.
So, I've talked myself off the cliff here. Signing Trey Lance, at the price point they did, is not a disaster. It might be if Greg Roman or someone else was stewarding the Los Angeles offense, but McDaniel knows what he's getting into and is confident he can make it work. I, somewhat surprisingly, believe him.