Justin Herbert Camp Update — August 31: Sixty-Five Yards in Four Plays

Justin Herbert's last throw of the preseason was comfortably his longest of it: a 65-yard play-action touchdown to Quentin Johnston in Thursday's finale against the Rams, on a night where the starters played two series and ran four offensive plays total, per Eric Smith at chargers.com — one more series than the August 20-third episode had to work with, which answers the first half of what we set out to watch. Herbert finished two of three for 74 yards, per the CBS Sports box score, and the team's site notes the completion would have been longer than any he had last season. Jim Harbaugh's review, per Smith: "Wow. Double wow. The throw, the catch, the protection." Note the third item — the protection drew the praise by name.

Then the cutdown answered the questions the August 20-third episode left open. The backup job went to Trey Lance, with Gavino Borquez at Chargers Wire citing his fit in Mike McDaniel's scheme and a contract worth up to 6.75 million dollars; DJ Uiagalelei was waived despite going 11 of 18 for a hundred 41 yards in the finale, while Lance went without a completion on two throws. G.C. Bellchamber at Boltbeat expects Uiagalelei back on the practice squad if he clears waivers — a reporter's expectation, not a settled fact. The dissent is on file too: Fernando Ramirez at The Sporting Tribune wrote that Lance underwhelmed enough that the Chargers need to look for another backup quarterback.

The line in front of Herbert now has names. 11 offensive linemen made the roster, sixth-round rookies Alex Harkey and Logan Taylor among them, per Borquez. Kayode Awosika is the starting left guard — the team's roster page says he seemingly won the job in camp — and rookie Jake Slaughter is confirmed at center, per Smith, with Tyler Biadasz on season-ending injured reserve. Rashawn Slater took his usual first-team left tackle spot at the final camp practice, per Smith. That is the cutdown's literal answer to the interior-depth question we set: 11 bodies, two settled starting jobs, and a rookie snapping the ball.

The June preview framed Herbert's year as elite accuracy with one leak — 13 interceptions last season, per our own numbers — and a McDaniel rebuild whose promise ran through better protection. Four August snaps say nothing about the leak. But the protection half of the story spent the week getting specific, and the first real test is Arizona. We'll be back when the games count.

_Data via nflverse._