The Los Angeles Chargers are still looking to get something out of former first-round pick Quentin Johnston, but his chances to make an impact may be running out.
Johnston was selected with the No. 21 overall pick in the 2023 draft and while he hasn't been horrible, he hasn't been great either. He does have 10 career touchdown receptions, but the horrendous drops he has made have stood out much more.
Matt Holder of Bleacher Report identified the worst pick in team in the NFL has made over the last five years and re-drafted for each team. He chose Johnston for the Chargers and reminded fans that the team could have had Zay Flowers instead.
"Original Pick: WR Quentin Johnston at No. 21 (2023)
To be fair, Johnston is coming off a decent season where he had 55 catches for 711 yards and eight touchdowns. However, his drops have become a major issue in Los Angeles, and the organization brought Mike Williams back and used a second-round pick on Tre Harris this offseason.
That points to a reduced role for the TCU product heading into year three, despite putting up decent numbers last fall, making him look like an even bigger bust.
New Pick: WR Zay Flowers (originally 22nd by the Baltimore Ravens)
Part of the problem with the Chargers selecting Johnston where they did is that he was taken in the middle of a four-wide receiver run—Jaxson Smith-Njigba (20), Flowers (22) and Jordan Addison (23)—and is easily the worst of the bunch.
Granted, Flowers isn’t the same type of receiver as Johnston, making this not a perfect player-for-player replacement. But the Bolts have a couple of big-bodied wideouts in Williams and Harris on the roster already, so there’s room for another smaller guy to fit into the receiver corps".
Looking at the group the Chargers have right now, imagine giving Flowers to Justin Herbert to throw to along with Ladd McConkey, Tre Harris and Mike Williams. That could be a dangerous quartet. Johnston won't strike fear into many defenders in the league, if any, and if he doesn't do something fairly remarkable this season, the "bust" label will be firmly applied.
While these exercises are fun for discussion, the reality is that the Chargers need to see what they can do with Johnston this year and with him likely being a No. 3 option, at best, he will have his work cut out for him.
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