Chargers' Quentin Johnston quietly shakes off bust label with focus on Marvin Harrison Jr.

It’s 2025 and the Los Angeles Chargers suddenly have the breakout former first-round pick, not the bust getting national headlines. 

Chargers fans can unexpectedly sit back and enjoy Quentin Johnston’s continued emergence as a top-tier weapon for Justin Herbert at the same time the very public busting of Arizona Cardinals wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. continues on a national stage. 

One doesn’t have to look far on social media to see the comparisons. 

Harrison, the fourth-overall pick in 2024, was the first wideout off the draft board that year, even ahead of Malik Nabers. He caught 62 of 116 targets as a rookie with eight scores, yet has battled crippling drops that have gone viral as a sophomore while appearing hesitant to take hits at all. 

Contrast that with Johnston, the guy the Chargers took 21st overall in 2023. He battled major drop issues over his first two years in the league, appearing to have a limited route tree in the process. The Chargers wound up bringing back Mike Williams, then Keenan Allen, this offseason after drafting two wideouts with notable picks as Johnston insurance. 

Johnston has responded by appearing more versatile and as a borderline No. 1 this year, averaging more than 17 yards per catch with three scores over four games. The shocking drop woes appear gone, too. 

Maybe all Johnston needed was time to develop and an offensive cast of weapons that better frees him up. But ask any Chargers fans even a month ago how they thought things were going to go and likely none of them would have suggested Johnston would be shaking free of the bust label, with Harrison there to catch it on a national stage.