Rookie San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jack Heneghan made his NFL debut during the Niners' 23-21 preseason loss to the Los Angeles Chargers Thursday night and looked impressive in doing so.


Fourth-string quarterbacks have almost zero chance of cracking an NFL roster, and San Francisco 49ers undrafted rookie quarterback Jack Heneghan won't be thinking about game-day plans when the Niners' regular season debuts on Sept. 9.

Heneghan, who played his college ball at Dartmouth, didn't even make it into an exhibition game until the 49ers' fourth and final preseason bout against the Los Angeles Chargers Thursday night.


At least his debut was impressive, though.

The first-year quarterback was 8-of-9 for 58 yards in his first NFL action against another team, leading to a passer rating of 93.5 on the night. He even added some improvisation in the fourth quarter off a botched snap, picking the ball up and rushing it up the middle for a 10-yard gain:


Heneghan also was under center for two of the 49ers' three touchdown drives on the night. And while these efforts were up against the Chargers' third- and fourth-string units, the quarterback's efforts were noteworthy, at least.

"He did a heck of a job," head coach Kyle Shanahan said of the quarterback after the game. Shanahan also reiterated his desire to get Heneghan into the game, citing how the Dartmouth product had "earned" the opportunity.

As the Sacramento Bee's Chris Biderman pointed out during the game, Heneghan never took any full-team reps during training camp. At a number of points, Heneghan actually lined up as a wide receiver during various unit drills and exercises.


Barring one of the other 31 teams around the league picking him up, Heneghan is competing for the No. 3 quarterbacking spot on San Francisco's depth chart, which will likely wind up being on the practice squad. Heneghan's primary competition, Nick Mullens, went 10-of-17 for 106 yards and a rushing touchdown.

Shanahan also indicated the team would do the majority of roster cuts on Friday, Aug. 31 before the 4 p.m. ET deadline on Sept. 1. Neither Mullens nor Heneghan figure to have any shot at the 53-man roster, although there could be some interesting discussion as to which player winds up going to the practice squad once cuts and waivers have finalized.

Written By:

Peter Panacy


Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
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