4 winners (and 1 loser) for the Chargers in preseason opener vs Rams

Chargers loser: Quentin Johnston

Quentin Johnston did not have the kind of NFL debut that Chargers fans were hoping for. It did not help that expectations were extremely high for Johnston after he was taken in the first round and put together an excellent camp full of highlight-reel catches.

The biggest knock on Johnston coming into the league (which is the reason why he fell to the 21st overall pick) was his drop problems and his unreliability in making contested catches. Those concerns were on full display against the Rams as Johnston made multiple drops in the first quarter.

Johnston was able to get back into the game for some red zone snaps and even scored a touchdown, which was great to see. While Johnston definitely deserves a ton of love, that touchdown pass was more on Easton Stick's incredible throw than Johnston's athleticism.

Fans definitely should not be worried about Johnston dropping a few passes in a preseason game were the outcome does not even matter. However, fans can't compare Johnston to Ja'Marr Chase, who struggled with drops in his first preseason, entirely. Chase had a few bad games and drops were not something that was on his scouting report heading into the league like it was with Johnston.

Does this mean that Johnston is not going to work out and not be productive in his rookie season? Not at all. But it is definitely fair to say that Chargers fans were disappointed with his performance on Saturday.