Quentin Johnston has failed to live up to the billing of being a first-round pick. A marginally better sophomore season has not changed his stock and if he can't turn it around during his third year, the LA Chargers may quickly look to replace him.
Johnston is under contract for four seasons but there is no guarantee he will make it through the entire contract. While he will undoubtedly be on the team in 2025, it is not unforeseen for first-round wideouts to get the boot early. After all, Johnston's teammate Jalen Reagor was traded after two seasons for a seventh-round pick.
Johnston does not have many believers who think he will turn it around in his third season and as such, some are already looking at who the Chargers may bring in to replace him. ESPN's Jordan Reid recently put together a way-too-early 2026 NFL Mock Draft and has the Chargers drafting Johnston's replacement: LSU's Nic Anderson.
"There aren't many clear top options in this receiver class right now, but I'm projecting a big season from Anderson. That would put him in the first-round mix. After setting the Oklahoma freshman touchdown receptions record in 2023 (10), he played in only one game in 2024 because of a quad injury and then transferred to LSU," Reid wrote.
"Playing with Nussmeier at quarterback will help his profile. The Chargers could put together a solid group of young receivers in Anderson, Ladd McConkey, Tre Harris and Quentin Johnston."
Chargers draft Quentin Johnston's replacement in 2026 NFL Mock Draft
It's way too early to even talk about Nic Anderson as a potential first-round target for the Bolts. We have no idea where the Chargers will draft in the first round (Reid just went off the 2025 order) and there is no guarantee that Anderson is even a feasible target in that range.
Anderson could climb the ranks and be a top-10 pick in the draft or he could fail to live up to expectations and go much later in the draft. There are too many variables to marry the idea of a certain player. It's not Anderson himself Chargers fans should take away from this. It's the fact the team is predicted to draft a wideout.
The Chargers just drafted Tre Harris in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft and picked Ladd McConkey in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. On paper, the Chargers should be set with a first-rounder coming from the 2023 NFL Draft.
The problem is that Johnston doesn't play like a first-rounder and the NFL world is noticing. He is no longer being penciled in to an impactful player in future years. If he was, analysts wouldn't predict the Chargers to draft a wide receiver in the first round.
Of course, anything is possible and Johnston could go out and shock (literally) the entire NFL world. But based on what we have all seen from him in his first two years in the league, fans shouldn't be holding their breath.