Quentin Johnston failed to live up to his first-round draft slot as a rookie in 2023, leading to no shortage of criticism heading into this season.
However, new head coach Jim Harbaugh showed lots of faith in Johnston, keeping him as a top option as the Chargers stripped down their receiving room this offseason, and it’s paying off so far. Let’s talk about whether Johnston is a viable fantasy football option going forward.
Should Quentin Johnston Be Added on the Fantasy Waiver Wire in Week 3?
Johnston averaged just around two catches and 25 yards per game as a rookie, but he’s already on a better track this season.
He picked up 38 yards on three grabs in the season-opening win for the Chargers, and then this week, he racked up five catches for 51 yards. The reception total ties a career best, while the yardage output is a single yard short of the second-best game of Johnston’s rookie season.
Most strikingly, Johnston scored twice this week, equaling his total from the entirety of last season. That makes this the best fantasy outing of his young career by some distance in just about every conceivable format. The question is whether this is a sign of what’s to come, or one of many random fantasy outbursts we’ll doubtless see this year.
herbo to QJ, again.
📺 | @nfloncbs pic.twitter.com/aaxLTcOHm8
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) September 15, 2024
Touchdowns can absolutely win you games, but in the big picture, they’re a pretty unstable metric; they can yield 12 points one week and none the next. Other than constant end-zone threats like Mike Evans or Tyreek Hill, this is especially true of wide receivers, as they’ll see red-zone touches much less routinely than a team’s lead running back will.
However, Johnston’s expanded role this year is all but certainly real. As we’ve discussed, the Chargers underwent almost an entire remodel this year in terms of skill players, leaving few other options for Justin Herbert outside of Johnston. That’s not to say that Johnston will receive top-receiver targets every single week, but it will be hard for Los Angeles to operate an air offense without involving him to some degree.
The question becomes just how much of an air attack the Chargers will have, and that is hard to tell thus far. Los Angeles has hardly trailed at any point through two games, and Harbaugh has often operated run-heavy offenses.
However, Herbert is on the team for a reason; with a quarterback that talented and a coach known for developing passers, expect the passing offense to have its moments, and Johnston to be a part of them. If he’s available on waivers in your league, go after him.