Quentin Johnston is heading into his sophomore season with the LA Chargers with as much pressure as any second-year player can have. Johnston is coming off a bad rookie season and has a new regime in town that does not care about his previous draft position as a first-round pick.
Johnston's new coach, Jim Harbaugh, had nothing but great things to say about the former TCU wide receiver during the start of Chargers training camp last week. The six-foot-four receiver instantly validated his head coach with an impressive practice in front of fans the following day.
However, any momentum Johnston created has fizzled out in week two of training camp. More clips of Johnston dropping passes were released over the weekend and on Monday, Johnston had arguably his worst drop yet.
Kristian Fulton breaking up a TD in coverage against Quentin Johnston, who was visibly frustrated not making the catch #Chargers pic.twitter.com/hrEsz2nhc8
— Anthony De Leon (@ImJustTheFellow) July 29, 2024
Saying Kristian Fulton broke up the touchdown is a bit generous, as this was a ball that most NFL wide receivers would catch. Instead of a broken-up touchdown, this looked much more like a particular drop from last season that cost the Chargers the game against the Green Bay Packers.
Quentin Johnston's drop woes continue at Chargers training camp
If Johnston is ever going to be a productive receiver at the NFL level then he has to fix his hands. No receiver is perfect and every single wideout who has ever played has dropped a pass in practice but Johnston does not get the benefit of the doubt.
Not only did Johnston deal with these same woes last season but this was all over his scouting report coming into the league. When there are already questions around your hands, and then you drop passes your rookie season, you don't get a pass when you drop multiple passes in practice.
Especially one that is as egregious as the one above.
Chargers training camp has been underway for less than a week and it has already been a rollercoaster ride for Johnston. Thanks to Harbaugh's kind words and the solid day of practice following them, fans were excited about what Johnston could do in his sophomore season.
But the more he drops catchable balls in practice the more fans are going to cast doubt over whether or not he can ever be a productive wide receiver at the NFL level. He does not need to be someone who can make every circus catch in the book like Mike Williams, but he fundamentally needs to be able to catch the ball.
And regardless what his head coach says, when clips like this continue to come out of training camp it is fair to cast doubt over whether or not Johnston can do that.