Quentin Johnston fights off bust allegations with career day for Chargers

One of the biggest storylines for the LA Chargers entering the 2024 season was Quentin Johnston's sophomore year. After such a disappointing rookie season, Johnston desperately needed to earn his keep in the NFL to fight off the claims of him being a bust.

After a serviceable Week 1 game that did not do enough to completely thwart those allegations, Johnston has flipped the script in Week 2 against the Carolina Panthers.

Johnston hauled in not one, but two, first-half touchdowns against the Panthers on Sunday. In just two quarters of action, Johnston matched his entire yearly touchdown total from his rookie season.

Quentin Johnston is slowly fighting off bust allegations in second Chargers season

It is great to see Johnston turn in a career-defining game so early in his sophomore season after a rookie season that was nothing but negative. If Johnston was ever going to turn a corner and right the ship, he needed to have a game like this early in the season to boost his confidence.

Granted, Johnston has to do much more than have one strong half against what might be the worst team in the NFL to completely shake off the negative equity he has built up. To say that he has completely made up for a bad rookie season with two quarters of play would be disingenuous.

However, this is still an exciting sign for Johnston and the Chargers. One of the biggest issues with Johnston in his rookie year wasn't just his drop issues, but it was the fact that former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore didn't know how to use Johnston.

With Mike Williams hurt, the Chargers used Johnston as an X receiver just because he was six-foot-four and had the physical traits of an X receiver. But anyone who watched Johnston's tape in college knows he is not a traditional X receiver and cannot simply fill in to replicate Williams' route tree.

This misuse is something current offensive coordinator Greg Roman alluded to during training camp. The new Chargers coaching staff seems to have a much better understanding of how to utilize Johnston and how to build his confidence as a result.

Johnston's strong first half against the Panthers is a testament to that. There is still a lot more work that needs to be done but Chargers fans should be a lot more confident in QJ with this coaching staff than they ever were in the past.