Quentin Johnston joins elite company in Chargers' win over the Raiders

For the past two years, Quentin Johnston has easily been one of the most maligned players on the Los Angeles Chargers' roster, as some big drops in big moments have defined the 2023 first-round pick's young career far more than the 93 receptions he recorded in his first pair of professional seasons.

But through the first two weeks of this 2025 campaign, clearly determined to put those past drops behind him, Johnston has been one of the Bolts' biggest offensive weapons.

In the Chargers' Week 1 win over the three-time defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs in Brazil, the TCU alum led the team in receiving yards, catching five passes from Justin Herbert for 79 yards, two of which went for touchdowns in the 27-21 victory.

And in Monday night's Week 2 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, Johnston was back at it, going for a game-high 71 yards on three catches, with 60 of those yards coming on a bomb from Justin Herbert for a second-quarter touchdown.

And with that touchdown, Johnston became the first Chargers player with three receiving scores in the team's first two games since 2014, the last to do so being none other than legendary tight end Antonio Gates, although Gates took a bit of a different path. After failing to find the end zone in a season-opening loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Hall of Famer went for three TDs in a Week 2 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Quentin Johnston joins Antonio Gates in Chargers history book

What's wild about Johnston getting off to such a hot start is that plenty of pundits and fans alike were calling him a prime cut candidate after the Chargers selected a pair of wideouts in this past April's draft, taking Tre Harris in the second round and KeAndre Lambert-Smith in the fifth. And when the Bolts brought back Keenan Allen, a few of those calls got a little louder.

Johnston was never in any real danger of being cut, but his spot in the starting lineup was undoubtedly in question. But Jim Harbaugh decided to stick with him, and that decision is obviously paying off.

With Allen looking like he never left, second-year stud Ladd McConkey on pace for a second straight 1,000-yard season, and Johnston looking like the player he was always supposed to be after being taken No. 21 overall two years ago, the Chargers easily have one of the strongest receiving rooms in the entire NFL through the first two weeks of the season.

The Bolts will look for a third straight division win to kick off the season this Sunday against the Denver Broncos.