The LA Chargers are essentially one quarter through the 2023 season. Los Angeles has played four games thus far and has already had its bye as the team looks to rally throughout the rest of the campaign to make the NFL Playoffs.
It has been a rollercoaster first quarter as things started terribly for the Chargers before turning around. The team currently sits with a 2-2 record and needs to string wins together to convince the fans that this is actually a playoff team.
In order to do so, the Chargers are going to have to continually see growth out of its 2023 rookie class. The 2022 draft class had very little impact on the team last year and that cannot be the same story in 2023.
Have the Chargers righted the ship? Or are the drafted rookies struggling for the second year in a row? Let's dive into the report card, shall we?
Grading Chargers' 2023 rookie class:
First-round pick Quentin Johnston: C-
Many fans would give Quentin Johnston a failing grade so far this season as he has done next to nothing for the Chargers. He was the WR4 who barely saw any snaps in the first three weeks and then did not do much in Week 4 with Mike Williams out.
Some fans have already jumped to calling Johnston a bust, which is absurd. Could those fans end up being right and Johnston not work out? Absolutely. But to definitely declare that he is a bust after four games is asinine.
The reality of the situation is that Johnston was not supposed to have a huge role in his rookie season as the Bolts were taking a long-term approach in taking him. That is something we here at Bolt Beat echoed to the fanbase yet there were misconstrued expectations about how good he would be in year one.
Johnston is now being forced to have a bigger role so it will be interesting to see how he reacts. If he continues to struggle then we can start talking about a lower grade as the year goes along. But so far, it is way to early to fail him.