Three years ago, the Los Angeles Chargers drafted wide receiver Quentin Johnston with the expectation that he would be their WR1 of the future. After following up a disappointing rookie season with a better sophomore year, is there a path for Johnston to emerge into a weekly fantasy football starter in year three?
Should You Draft Quentin Johnston in Fantasy?
I was not a fan of Johnston as a prospect in 2023. He had all the makings of a classic first-round bust wide receiver. He was a contested catch specialist who wasn’t overly dominant in college and hailed from a school that has never produced a quality NFL wide receiver.
As a rookie, Johnston performed about as I expected him to. Despite injuries running rampant in the Chargers’ receiver room, Johnston managed a mere 431 yards on 38 receptions. By failing to reach 525 receiving yards as a rookie, I had zero interest in Johnston going forward and was okay with closing the door on him as a relevant fantasy asset.
To Johnston’s credit, he did improve as a sophomore. He caught 55 passes for 711 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 11.7 fantasy points per game. He didn’t quite crack the top 36, but he performed well enough to warrant a spot on fantasy rosters…right? Not so fast.
What did Johnston do for fantasy managers? He had seven total weeks in which he was startable. Three of those weeks saw him finish as a WR3 or worse. He posted 22.1 points in Week 2, when no one started him. Then, after games of 12.4, 2.3, and 5.2, he exploded for 22.0 points in Week 9. Again, no one was starting him.
Over the next month, Johnston put up 10.4, 12.8, 0.0, and 3.2 games. Then, he popped off for 15.8 and 15.5 points. Maybe fantasy managers were inclined to start him for the 15.5-point outing.
Most importantly, Johnston’s best game didn’t come until Week 18, which doesn’t even count for fantasy. He caught 13 passes for 186 yards, posting 31.6 fantasy points.
QUENTIN JOHNSTON, THIS CATCH 🔥🔥🔥
📺: #LACvsLV on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/NxC5E6RHoA— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2025
This single game alone accounted for 18% of his total fantasy points. From Weeks 1-7, the weeks that count, Johnston averaged 10.3 PPG, putting him roughly around the WR50.
As great as it is to know Johnston has this level of performance in him, one huge game does not erase everything else. The following week, in a game that mattered in the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs, Johnston ran 31 routes, saw five targets, and didn’t catch a single one.
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Joshua Palmer is gone, entering the 2025 season, but he’s been replaced by second-round rookie Tre Harris. While I’m no big fan of Harris, after drafting Johnston in the first round, this is the second consecutive season the Chargers have taken a wide receiver in the second round.
Ladd McConkey is already one of the most talented route runners in the league and is locked in as Justin Herbert’s WR1. Harris should be the favorite for the WR2.
Simply put, I don’t see Johnston starting on this team, and his role is even less than last year.
Even the WR2 on this team might have a hard time with consistent fantasy value. The Chargers don’t run enough plays.
Under Jim Harbaugh, the Chargers play extremely slow. They were the slowest team in the league in neutral game script, averaging 30.7 seconds per snap. That was 0.4 seconds slower than the next slowest team, and a staggering 4.0 seconds behind the league’s fastest team.
Herbert averaged just under 30 pass attempts per game, by far the lowest of his career. To be fair, there’s little reason to expect that to change this year, especially with the Chargers spending a first-round pick on Omarion Hampton, giving their running game a lot more juice than it had last year with J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards.
Now, to be fair, the Chargers weren’t as run-heavy as you may think. They had a 56% neutral game script pass rate. However, the overall volume stemming from the slow pace will not improve to the point where their projected WR4 has any fantasy value.
I have Johnston ranked as my WR69, right in line with his WR68 average draft position (ADP). There are far better darts to throw in the later rounds than Johnston.
Frank Ammirante’s Quentin Johnston Fantasy Projection
Quentin Johnston showed some flashes last season, catching 55-of-91 targets for 711 yards and eight touchdowns. This included some impressive spike weeks, such as 186 yards against the Raiders in Week 18.
But it’s tough to take Johnston, even at a reduced cost following Keenan Allen’s return to the Chargers. Johnston is now fourth in line for targets, behind Allen, Ladd McConkey, and Tre Davis. While there’s a chance that Johnston can get ahead of Davis, we’re talking about a talented second-round rookie, so that feels a bit unlikely.
Add in the fact that the Chargers have a run-heavy offense, and you can see why I’m not interested in Johnston. The one exception I’d make is if he fell two to three rounds past ADP in Best Ball, where I’m looking for a dart throw to round out my WR room. As for redraft, there’s no point rostering Johnston, even in deeper formats.
