The Chargers’ preseason ended Thursday night with a 20-18 loss to the Rams at SoFi Stadium, and the roster picture sharpened fast afterward. The latest Chargers 53-man roster projection keeps Justin Herbert and Trey Lance as the two quarterbacks, leaves DJ Uiagalelei on the practice squad and pushes the rest of the depth chart into a final round of sorting before cuts are made.
That matters now because the preseason is over and every spot has a cost. The projection keeps Omarion Hampton, Keaton Mitchell, Alec Ingold and Kimani Vidal in the backfield, with Derius Davis holding onto his place as one of the team’s main returners. At receiver and tight end, the projected group is built around Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, Tre’ Harris, Brenen Thompson, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Davis, Charlie Kolar, David Njoku and Oronde Gadsden II, a setup that leaves the margin thin everywhere else.
The quarterback call is the one that still feels unsettled. Uiagalelei has looked more comfortable than Lance this preseason, but Lance has been played ahead of him in all three games, and that usage still points toward Lance staying in the two-quarterback plan while Uiagalelei waits on the practice squad. For a team trying to settle on a QB2 behind Herbert, that gap between comfort and deployment says as much as any stat line.
The offensive line math changed too after Tyler Biadasz landed on season-ending injured reserve. Even with that loss, the projection includes nine offensive linemen and gives Jacob Spomer a roster spot as an undrafted rookie, which shows how the injury has widened the path for the back end of the line. On the other side of the ball, the projected defense carries five defensive linemen and four edge rushers, with Nick Barrett taking the last defensive-line spot over TeRah Edwards and Nadame Tucker and Andre Carter II still getting another chance to win the EDGE5 job.
There is also a quiet concern sitting under the projection. Dalevon Campbell suffered what appeared to be a major knee injury Thursday and had to be helped to the locker room, a blow that can ripple beyond one player when roster decisions are this tight. Kyle Kennard did not suit up for the second week in a row, which only adds to the uncertainty around the edge group and makes the final cuts more than a formality.
This is still a projection, not the official 53-man roster, but it lays out the likely shape of the decisions that have to be made next. The Chargers now have to turn preseason performance, injuries and practice-squad planning into actual moves, and the final answer will show whether the club keeps the current quarterback order or makes room for another change before the roster is set.
