Quentin Johnston has had a controversial short career with the LA Chargers, to say the least. Johnston struggled immensely in his rookie season after being taken in the first round (ahead of Zay Flowers and Jordan Addison) and while he took a step forward in his sophomore season, it still wasn't up to speed.
Many Chargers fans have lost hope in Johnston and prefer to see other wideouts starting in place of him. With second-round pick Tre Harris and veteran Mike Williams now on the roster, there is an easy path for Johnston to slide down to WR4 on the depth chart.
While Johnston spot as a starter for the Chargers if far from guaranteed, his coaches are still doing all the expected coach speak ahead of his third season. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman had promising things to say about Johnston during Chargers minicamp, but in a backdoor way, also made Chargers fans feel slightly worse.
Chargers OC Greg Roman on Quentin Johnston: "He's in the right split, the right route, the right depth. Just really showing that he's owning the system now. Last year was really a game of catchup."
— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) June 11, 2025
"Justin (Herbert) is going to him a lot and Q is answering the call."
Greg Roman's comments on Quentin Johnston send Chargers fans mixed signals
It's always great when a coach says promising things about a player who has struggled but Chargers fans are taking Roman with a grain of salt. This isn't the first time Roman has spoken highly of Johnston and his comments this year seemingly contradict his comments last year.
Roman spoke highly of Johnston last year and even insinuated that the previous Chargers coaching staff was not using him properly. Jim Harbaugh went as far as to say that Johnston was one of the team's top guys.
So... the Chargers coaching staff went out of its way to praise Johnston last year only for Roman to openly admit that last year was a "game of catch up"? How are Chargers fans supposed to take anything the team says about Johnston seriously when the coaches are talking out of both sides of their mouth?
This all says the quiet part out loud about Johnston: the praise last year was purely just coach speak and chances are the praise this year is coach speak as well. With that in mind, Chargers fans shouldn't take anything the coaches say as fact until Johnston proves it on a consistent basis when it actually matters.
And of course, Johnston is already contradicting Roman's comments, making it seem even more likely that this is pure coach speak. Johnston reportedly had a drop during Chargers minicamp on Tuesday. Drops are part of the game but Johnston does not get the same benefit of the doubt as others.
By trying to praise Johnston, all Roman did was tell Chargers fans how he really feels... even if inadvertently.