Quentin Johnston Fantasy 2024
The Chargers are not having a great start to their preseason. QB Justin Herbert is dealing with a plantar fascia injury in his right foot and the wide receiver room continues to underwhelm. There is some excitement surrounding rookie Ladd McConkey, but with Joshua Palmer, D.J. Chark, and Quentin Johnson as the other main targets the Chargers could be in for a long season. If Herbert misses time then I’m not sure any of the pass-catchers are advisable even as late-round picks, because Easton Stick is not the answer. Still, coming into the season there was some hope that players like Quentin Johnston could take a leap in 2024. Let’s look at how the offseason has been going for Johnston and whether a second-year breakout is still in the cards or if he’s now someone we should avoid.
Johnston was selected in the first round (21st overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft and then proceeded to have a terrible rookie season. That may sound unfair when he was buried on a depth chart that included Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, but after Williams went down with an ACL tear (in Week 3,) Johnston began to play a lot of snaps. During that time, Johnston caught 56.7% of his targets (38 of 67) and surpassed 30 yards in just four games. The end of the season was even less encouraging. Over the final five weeks, he averaged 58 snaps but failed to reach 30 yards in a single game. Yet, even with the Year 1 struggles, managers were coming into this offseason hoping he could develop into a decent fantasy contributor. With Allen and Williams now gone, the belief was that the opportunities should be there, and with a healthy Herbert, talent would eventually win out. There are a couple of things wrong with that line of thinking. Herbert is currently injured and Johnston has yet to prove that he possesses NFL-caliber talent. He will also be playing under a new coaching staff which could take time for him to adjust to and be detrimental to his development.
HC Jim Harbaugh has praised Johnston at various points this offseason, but he has steadily fallen down the depth chart and it is beginning to look like he will not win a starting job. Palmer and Chark are currently ahead of him and should man the perimeter, while McConkey operates out of the slot. Johnston could still earn a significant spot in the rotation, but any expectations of him being a primary part of the offense or a go-to target for Herbert should be tempered. There is also less room for error for Johnston. He doesn’t have the benefit of a good rookie campaign to point to and even if he did, I’m not sure how much benefit of the doubt it would earn him with a new coaching staff. So if he continues to underwhelm this preseason he could end up being nothing more than an afterthought in an offense that is trying to find playmakers to fill the void left by the departures of Allen and Williams.
This may seem like a lot of gloom and doom, but that’s because it is. I don’t see much value in Johnston as a draft prospect this season. Neither does the fantasy community at large. Johnston’s current ADP is #191 overall (#70 among wide receivers.) That’s near the end of the 16th round which means he’s being drafted as a last pick, if at all. If you want to take a chance on him in the final round, it’s hard to argue against it, although that means you’re taking a defense or kicker before the last two rounds, which you should not do. The better option is to leave Johnston on the waiver wire and if he does prove everyone wrong then, by all means, put a claim in on him. But there’s no reason to clog up your bench with a player who will likely never see your starting lineup.
