Chargers OC Mike McDaniel hypes up Quentin Johnston's potential in 2026

Admittedly, Chargers WR Quentin Johnston has not lived up to the hype of his original first-round selection in 2023. At the same time, Johnston has improved quite a bit since his rough rookie season. In 2025, the TCU product notched career highs in yards (735), yards per reception (14.0), and touchdowns (8),

Johnston was floated in trade rumors and reports throughout the offseason. But he's not going anywhere anytime soon. In what was effectively a vote of confidence going forward, the Chargers decided to pick up his $18 million fully guaranteed 2027 fifth-year option. Despite not being drafted by the Jim Harbaugh/Joe Hortiz front office, Johnston has clearly earned their support with his improvement in the past few seasons.

Chargers OC Mike McDaniel sees a big year on the horizon for WR Quentin Johnston

With new OC Mike McDaniel having say on the offensive side of personnel for the Chargers, one can imagine that he had a role in the team committing to Johnston for 2027. McDaniel was recently mic'd up in a practice for the Chargers in which he was heard coaching up the the former first-round pick:

"I'd prefer to not see you be comfortable at the top of a stick until August," McDaniel started. "Because you have so much drive phase and weight that if you really utilize the drive phase, it's not gonna be as clean in 90. And that's what I want. You'll tighten up at the turn as it goes. But your drive phase right now is gonna f*ck the league up. And I just want to protect that at all costs."

In a sense, McDaniel wants the players working on technique moreso than dominating every rep of OTAs. For a similar reason, he's made QB Justin Herbert build on his footwork in public practices as opposed to throwing. The point to Johnston can be thought of as energy conservation for preserving the best of his route running ability. WRs coach Sanjay Lal has mentioned working on drive phase Johnston and other Chargers receivers before. For those that don't know, drive phase particularly refers to the first 5-10 yards of a route off of the line of scrimmage.

Saying that Johnston's initial burst off of the line of scrimmage has the potential to "f*ck the league up" should make it clear where the coaching staff stands on Johnston's potential this season. After quietly improving each season, this offense under McDaniel should make the best use of Johnston's athletic traits to date in the NFL.

Johnston's 2026 season will be critical to his future as a Charger. But Harbaugh, Hortiz and McDaniel all seem aligned in the belief that he can make the most out of this season.

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