Former Heisman Trophy candidate has huge opportunity following Justin Herbert injury

Travis Wakeman

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Former Heisman Trophy candidate has huge opportunity following Justin Herbert injury image

With the recent news of Justin Herbert suffering a plantar fascia injury that will keep him out for the entire preseason, the Los Angeles Chargers are going to have to shift some of their plans. That means that some different quarterbacks will have to guide the team until he returns. 

The guy who is going to get the first chance to do that is going to be Easton Stick. He is easily the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart but now with a chance for more reps sitting right in front of him, this could be the chance that Max Duggan has been waiting for. 

Duggan was one of the best players in college football in 2022, finishing as the runner-up to Caleb Williams in the Heisman Trophy voting and taking TCU to the national championship game. The Chargers selected him in the seventh round of last year's draft but he didn't put much pressure on Stick to make the team. He was waived multiple times during the season and re-signed to the practice squad. 

Chargers fans have seen the Easton Stick Show, and it's not good

Stick will be the guy getting the first-team reps with Herbert out, but Duggan can change that. Stick was not especially great in Herbert's absence last year. He started the final five games of the season with Herbert dealing with a finger injury and threw for 1,129 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, but he was pretty much void of dynamic plays. 

 

Stick provides that safe, "game manager" route for the team. Duggan will have a chance to outperform him, something he wouldn't have had as much of a chance to do with Herbert around. Duggan brings that winning attitude and ability to motivate those around him. Those could be admirable traits to Jim Harbaugh, who lost to TCU and Duggan in the 2022 College Football Playoff. 

After being back and forth on the roster last year, Duggan may not get another chance like this one. Stick is not a strong backup and if he can outplay him, the Chargers could promote him to the backup quarterback spot going forward. 

Travis Wakeman

Travis Wakeman Photo

Travis Wakeman has been covering the NFL since 2012 when he started with Bleacher Report. After reporting about the Broncos there until 2016, he joined the FanSided network as a site expert covering the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers while simultaneously covering the Broncos at Broncos Wire when that site launched. He then took over the Broncos site at FanSided in March 2020 and covered the team there until spring of 2024. A lifelong Broncos fan and fan of the game, Travis is filled with sometimes useless NFL knowledge, but it always serves him well in any trivia contest. You can follow him on Twitter/X @traviswakeman10.