Tanner Mordecai logged SF’s late-game action in the 2025 preseason opener, taking the final three drives against Denver. He went 3-for-6 for 21 yards, added 15 rushing yards, and came away with a turnover-on-downs sequence, an interception and a punt. San Francisco’s offense stumbled in the trio of possessions he led, underscoring the uphill climb for a Super Bowl–caliber roster to carve out a QB3 role this preseason.

The 49ers accentuated the QB competition by bringing in Mac Jones and Carter Bradley, with Kurtis Rourke drafted in the 2025 class, creating a crowded path ahead of Mordecai. Mordecai’s blueprint draws on the late-2020s greatness he flashed at SMU (7,152 passing yards and 72 TDs across two seasons, plus 302 rushing yards and 4 rushing TDs) and the 2021 Wisconsin arc cut short by a hand injury. With those veterans and the new draft asset in the mix, Mordecai’s odds to latch on active roster material this year look remote, though any hold on a practice-squad-to-active-roster leap remains a glimmer for a veteran reclamation project. He’ll get another look in the Aug. 16 game vs. the Raiders as he chases the form he showed in earlier stops and tries to recapture that ceiling.