From Struggles To Success, Temple’s Johnston Finds His Rhythm With Chargers

Before the NFL season kicked off, a lot of NFL experts said this was a "make or break" season for former Temple Wildcat Quentin Johnston. The LA Chargers were giving the Central Texas standout an opportunity as one of their top targets, and if he didn't take it, he maybe join a very long list of talented guys that just couldn't 'make it' at the pro level.

Over the first 2 games of the season, Johnston seems to have found his footing.

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Temple Native a Star in the Making?

Former Temple & TCU star Quentin Johnston had a rough start to his NFL career in LA. His rookie season, he was only able to catch 38 passes for 431 yards and 2 touchdowns. His sophomore season was an improvement...but with a lot of missed opportunities - specifically dropped catches in big moments. He wrangled 55 catches for 711 yards and 8 touchdowns.

This year, with some personnel changes, Johnston is being given the opportunity to have a bigger role in the offense. But, to keep the spot, he was going to have to perform.

While the 6-4, 215 pound receiver still has some room for improvement, he has turned into a reliable target for Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh. In fact, he just became the first Charger since Antonio Gates in 2014 to catch 3 touchdown passes through the first 2 games of the season.

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Temple Wildcat Quentin Johnston's 2025 Season So Far

We're only two games into the season, so it's hard to make any long term projections, but it seems that Quentin is getting a lot of looks from Justin Herbert and is delivering when he's most needed.

The Chargers are currently 2-0 in the young season and Johnston has a lot to do with their success. So far, he's made 8 catches for 150 yards and 3 touchdowns. In fact, those 3 touchdowns is currently leading the NFL. In 17 games his rookie year, he only had 2 touchdowns. In 15 games his second year, he had 8 total touchdowns. So, he's on pace to blow by both those numbers.

He's averaging 75 yards a game, which is up from his two previous seasons. His average receiving yards per target is 10.7. His previous high was 7.8.

In fact, so far, they only place where you could argue he took a "step back" is his catch percentage, where he's only catching 57.1% of the balls that have been thrown his way. Last year, his catch percentage was 60.4%.

But, again, we're two games into the season. I think the big takeaways are this: they're trying to get him the ball and he's scoring. Both of which are good signs for him the player and the team as a whole.

Quentin Johnston's Career as a Temple Wildcat

His full high school stats aren't available online, but clearly he was on heck of a player. He was a highly touted prospect coming out of High School and was the 18th ranked Wide Receiver by 247Sports in his draft class. Clearly, the Chargers were high on him, taking him in the 1st round with the 21st pick of the 2023 draft.

He was also a 2 sport athlete who was also excelled at basketball averaging 13.7 PPG and 6.9 rebounds according to Max Preps.

Quentin Johnston clearly has all the tools - as he showed in high school and college. The biggest question now is can he find a way to showcase that skill set on the biggest stage in American sports?

Thus far this season, he's showing he has more than just potential to be the 2025 breakout star of the year. He's making catches and putting up numbers. We'll see if he can keep the streak of good games going when the Chargers take on the division rival Broncos Sunday afternoon.