Hello StormCloud. Chargers Talk 4630 is back with another Live Stream Recording. I went Live Friday and the main focus was what Stacey thought about Quentin Johnston possibly looking at 2024 as a Season of Redemption. Here’s a quick write up on Stacey’s thoughts as well as the embedded video below featuring Co-Host Garrett Elsasser Live from Iceland.
Here is Stacey’s Notes on Quentin Johnston’s upcoming 2024 Season Obviously Quentin had a tough season last year and didn’t live up to the expectations as a first round pick. Tom Telesco selected him with the 21st pick in the 2023 draft with Jordan Addison and Zay Flowers still on the board who both went on to be big playmakers for their respective teams.
It was a head scratcher to me that Telesco would draft a guy knowing he was a raw prospect who needed time to develop in the first round. He was added to a room with three established receivers, so at best he would be competing to be the 3rd or 4th string wide receiver. But… this is where we are and although there’s still a lot of questions surrounding Quentin Johnston, he has been saying all the right things regarding how much more confident he feels in his game, with comparison to last season.
It was reported that Quentin admitted a lot of times last year, he was frustrated, not focused, and not paying attention to detail. Possibly some of his frustrations came from knowing the narrative that’s was out there about him, and he knew he was not going to get many opportunities to prove himself while playing behind Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. From all the video’s he’s posted it appears to show he’s worked hard this off season on his mental, route running, getting separation and being able to track the ball in the air and get himself in position to make the catch.
Quentin is fully aware he didn’t take advantage of the few opportunities when they presented themselves and now he’s going to get a lot more chances to prove his worth to this team. The dropped passes has been a thing, but I also think they have been blown out of proportion as many great receivers has had issues holding onto the ball. Mike Evans is a 4 time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Champion and possibly a first time Hall Of Famer but was notorious for dropping passes but he has cleaned that up and has went on have a great career in the NFL.
Does Quentin need to clean that up? Absolutely… but honestly, It’s no different than a QB who throws interceptions, a running back who fumbles, an offensive lineman who misses his block or a defender who can’t make the tackle. It’s football, it happens and we all can agree, Quentin Johnston needs to be better in all facets of his game to get to the next level.
I respect the work Quentin has put in during the off season and with a much better coaching staff in my opinion, I believe Quentin is in a great position to be a difference maker and establish himself in this offense. For more on Quentin Johnston and other topics tune into Chargers Talk 4630 on my YouTube Channel.
Of course, I want all my Charger players to ball out!!!
But.. you know, I haven’t been too impressed with QJ’s mindset whenever he interviews. Says he wasn’t given a good chance last year.. in a way, blaming circumstances. Sometimes he takes a little responsibility for a mediocre 1st year, but mostly he doesn’t, at least not in the interviews I’ve listened to. We all have our own roadblocks to goals in our life.. we can blame others or we can be accountable. Would love to see him spend extra time with his QB (1st to practice / last to leave), get himself a private coach for the offseason, stay humble and take control of his own destiny. If you blame outside sources, then you can never be the best version of yourself.
Note: On the opposite hand… I see a young man like Brendan Rice and to me, he has the right mindset. He is humble, willing to put in the time, his Dad is going to be coaching him, he already promised if he doesn’t make much of a difference this year, it’s on him. I like Brendan’s attitude! QJ, not so much.
Rooting for my fav team to finally get to and win a Super Bowl under Harbaugh, so I hope QJ does well, but so fare I’m not impressed by him.
But I am rooting hard for Brendan!!! #Boltup!
I’m going to say QJ’s problems are in his head. And they won’t be fixed until he gains confidence. I saw him catch a lot of balls in last year’s training camp, including a go route down the right sideline for a td, somewhat similar to the Green Bay drop. There were some drops, too, as Popper noted in his reporting during camp. But when Staley said QJ had a great camp during Week 16 or so, I wouldn’t say it was great (more like good), but what does that matter? What counts is what happens in games that count.
I agree part of the problem was how the coaching staff tried to use him last year. He isn’t Mike Will and it was as if the team tried to make him fill the Mike Will X receiver role. I remember seeing QJ and Mike Will standing next to each other and QJ was so skinny he made MW look fat. As a consequence, QJ was outmuscled a lot of times by DBs on his routes. Remember that 3rd down play against DAL in the 4th where Gilmore knocked QJ off the ball? I still think that was DPI, but QJ wasn’t strong enough to hold his position. Also, QJ was really bad at blocking. REALLY bad. Hopefully he gained some strength this off season.
The other issue, which is related to all these issues, is Herbert didn’t seem to trust QJ and looked away from him. Herbie seemed to trust Erickson and Fedoko more than QJ when Keenan and Palmer were out of the game. Hope QJ and Herbie can get on the same page.
I’m pulling for QJ. Was also impressed by his taking accountability during his press conference a few weeks ago. You can tell that Green Bay drop still haunts him. I hope he gets passed it, for his own good and the good of the team.
I agree with the narrative that the ‘drops passes’ meme is overblown. The reason it got that way is that Quentin seems to have his “oops” moments at the worst possible time, like wide open for a TD. That big-moment fail could be in his head, or it could just be random bad luck on when the drop happened. I’m choosing to believe it’s the latter. In the grand scheme of things, he really doesn’t have an alarming number of drops for a rookie receiver, and everyone says that he’s putting in the work rather than finding places to put the blame. That’s enough for me to think that he’ll have a much-improved, maybe even breakout, second season.
I’m certainly not sweeping the drops under the rug (and not saying you are either). They’re a concern but one that I hope he’ll work through with effort on his part, more time with Herbie, and a better coaching staff. Only time will tell.
I hear what you saying but just my opinion only, he was picked in the first round ahead of Jordan Adderson and Zay Flowers. Both of those guys had an immediate impact on their respective teams. I think we can agree Quentin Johnston had no impact at all. And that was with Keenan who didn’t play the the last month and Mike Williams was gone most of the season. Years ago you was given 3-5 years to develop. Not in today’s NFL. Thanks for your perspective. Respect!
True enough, Stacey. But you really can’t compare the receivers straight across like that, can you? Would Addison and Flowers have had that same impact if they had been the Chargers’ draft pick instead of the Vikings/Ravens? Might QJ have had a more impactful season if he hadn’t been stuck on an ineffective offense on a badly-coached team?
No way to know.
I certainly hope QJ puts it together this season & produces. But is it fair to call it a “bounce back” season? Last year was his rookie year. What is he “bouncing back” from? His college production? With limp noodle armed Max Duggan? I prefer to judge QJ by what he accomplishes at this level. Rookies get 3 years from me. Let’s see what he brings this year after a year of the entire team underperforming.
Great episode Stacey and Garrett! First time listening. Subscribed.
Well said Kyle. Your right, every receiver have a different skill set that’s and that’s why this situation is so unique. But I trust that this Coaching Staff that Harbaugh has assembled is more than capable of maximizing what each individual player does well and build their schemes around that. I think the receivers will do better than people expect, and I’m hoping that QJ continues to improve and we get to see it translate to the football field.
Another great pod, Stacey.
I share some cautious optimism that Johnston can really become a contributor in this offense this season. We have a WR corps that is chalk-full of unique talents and roles if utilized correctly, not unlike the Packers. We don’t see to have a Alpha-dog in the room that’s going to be a true WR1 at this point, but we do have guys that do certain things very well, which an excellent coaching staff should be able to get creative with to get this most out of these guys as possible.
I’m very hopeful, and very excited!