Chargers News: Insider Explores How Quentin Johnston Has Failed To Capitalize On Expanded Role

Quentin Johnston's slow start could come down to fundamentals.

Ever since your Los Angeles Chargers took wide receiver Quentin Johnston with the 21st pick in the 2023 NFL draft, the expectations became high for the young players. 

Unfortunately, his production has not warranted the type of hype that generally surrounds a first-round pick. With Mike Williams tearing his ACL in Week 3, Johnston was expected to garner more experience. 

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore stated just that as he revealed to Daniel Popper of The Athletic that: 

"He’s going to get more opportunities."

Via Daniel Popper, The Athletic.

Those opportunities have not wielded the type of results that Moore, HC Brandon Staley, and Justin Herbert want. Despite having a career-high 35 snaps in the loss against the Cowboys, he was only targeted five times by Herbert. 

Daniel Popper has not returned to break down a bit more about why Johnston has been seeing some poor numbers, which has everything to do with how he's being used. 

Popper revealed to The Athletic that:

Johnston has not been a focal point of the offense over the past two weeks. Allen and Palmer are the top two options, and the vast majority of play designs are feeding targets to them. Herbert also, naturally, has more trust and rapport with both Allen and Palmer.

Via 

Daniel Popper, The Athletic

It's no secret that Herbert has trust with star Keenan Allen and Joshua Palmer. It is a bit strange though, how Johnston is not being utilized to his strengths. 

Popper added: 

The Chargers are utilizing Johnston mostly as a deep-field threat. This part is curious. Because on the night the Chargers drafted Johnston in April, both Staley and general manager Tom Telesco specifically mentioned Johnston’s yards-after-catch ability as a motivating factor in the pick. And yet through six weeks, 38.7 percent of Johnston’s 81 routes have been either go routes or posts, according to TruMedia.

Via 

Daniel Popper, The Athletic

It takes a special kind of receiver to create separation that allows them to become an easy target, which is what Johnston will need to clean up to be more effective. Especially if he plans to be used primarily as a YAC (yards-after-catch) threat, separation will be crucial in his ability to turn a would-be five-yard gain into much more. 

The issue is that Johnston is still very much a rookie, in that he cannot create the kind of separation that usually takes more time to learn. 

Johnston does not create separation consistently. He is still early in the process of his development as a route-runner — both in terms of the variety of routes he is capable of running and the quality of the routes he runs.

Via 

Daniel Popper, The Athletic

Johnston will need to clean up his fundamentals a bit more quickly if he wants to remain a WR3 for this Chargers offense. It would be good to see him figure things out as the team faces a huge battle against division rival Kansas City Chiefs.

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