Where Is Quentin Johnston?

The Los Angeles Chargers took wide receiver Quentin Johnston in the Draft with the 21^st overall pick. While he wasn’t viewed as the ideal receiver of that Draft, he did on paper lend a certain explosiveness with his after-the-catch ability and his speed that, while not game-breaking, still put him ahead of most other Chargers wide receivers. With Keenan Allen and Mike Williams locked in as the starters, there wasn’t going to be too much pressure for Johnston to have a huge rookie year. But then Williams went down in Week 3, and suddenly the spotlight did turn on him a bit more. And yet, he has not seen any more targets than before. One has to wonder why Johnston is hardly seeing any usage when there is a need for his talents right now.

Lack of Quentin Johnston Usage by Chargers Becoming Perplexing

The Year So Far

Johnston started the year off fighting for WR3 snaps with Josh Palmer, who had held down the role before. He evidently lost that role and became WR4, because compared to Palmer’s average of 60% of snaps over the first three games, Johnston never had more than 27% of snaps. In those first three games, he had five catches for 26 yards and never had more than three targets in a game. While odd, this lack of usage was somewhat excusable because the offense was thriving and there was no need to throw Johnston to the wolves immediately.

Cue the Mike Williams injury. Palmer got the bump to WR2, while Johnston bumped up to WR3 at last. Now Johnston’s snaps have gone up to about 50%. However, his number of targets has not changed at all, and he only has one catch for 18 yards. He went catchless on Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys with only two targets. One of them came on the game-ending interception from Justin Herbert; he made a poor throw under pressure, but Johnston hadn’t gotten hardly any separation and was unable to compete with Stephon Gilmore.

What It Means

So the question then becomes: why has Johnston not been targeted hardly at all? Palmer has stepped admirably into the WR2 role, which is likely his ceiling. But with the only other viable depth being fellow rookie Derius Davis – until Jalen Guyton returns from injury – there aren’t many other options. Johnston’s talents are needed. So why is he not getting more snaps – and why isn’t Justin Herbert targeting him when he is on the field?

After the Williams injury happened, coach Brandon Staley claimed that Johnston hadn’t been used prior to the Williams injury because of the depth of the receiving corps, and not because he wasn’t ready. And perhaps, from his point of view, that was true; we don’t know for sure. However, at any rate, Herbert does not seem to be comfortable with him yet. Johnston has run plenty of routes – deep ones, too – but Herbert simply is not throwing them his way, and is focusing most of his targets on Allen and Palmer. For whatever reason, Herbert has not developed confidence or chemistry with Johnston yet.

Bust or Slow Burn?

There is already speculation at this point as to whether Quentin Johnston is a bust or not. Frankly, it is too early to say for certain. We have not seen enough to judge his whole career on, and a lot of rookies simply do not adjust to the big leagues right out of the gate. Granted, expectations are higher on rookies these days, but just because Johnston isn’t productive right away does not make him a bust. He could still turn out to be a bust, and the Chargers barely using him at this time is concerning. But it is still too early to make such a judgment.

For whatever it’s worth, fellow first-rounder Mike Williams – who was drafted seventh overall – did not start out well either in his rookie year. He only played 10 games (due to injury) and finished with 11 catches for 95 yards. There were similar talks of “bust” around that time. Since then, he has had two 1,000-yard seasons. Perhaps Johnston will follow a similar path.

It would be unfortunate for the Chargers in the short term, given that they are a bit short-handed at receiver right now. But it may simply take time for Johnston to break out, and for Herbert to develop chemistry with him.