Quentin Johnston — Week 1: Six Targets, Seventeen Yards
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 14
Johnston was thrown to six times, tied for second on the Chargers with Tre Harris behind Ladd McConkey's seven, and caught two for 17 yards, neither for a first down. Four of the six came after McConkey left the game in the third quarter; the deep incompletion on third and 11 with 12:32 left in the fourth cost 4.7 points of win probability, in a 26–14 loss to the Cardinals.
When Quentin Johnston's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
The full episode, in writing
16 to 14, Cardinals, 12 32 left in the fourth quarter, third and 11 at the Chargers 19. Justin Herbert threw deep right to Quentin Johnston, incomplete. −1.1 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and −4.7 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it, the biggest loss on any Chargers pass or run that was not a turnover or a sack. It ended a three-and-out, and the punt that followed was blocked and recovered by the Chargers at their own three; Arizona scored 44 seconds of game clock later, Trey McBride from the three.
The line: six targets, two catches, 17 yards, no touchdowns, no first downs, −1.1 expected points on the targets, longest nine. One target before halftime, five after. The catches were both short left on first and 10: eight yards to the Chargers 31 on the first snap of the second half, 14 55 left in the third, down 13 to seven, +0.7; and nine yards to the 25 with 11 39 left in the fourth, down 23 to 14, +0.8. The four incompletions: short right at the Arizona 30 with 13 42 left in the second quarter, the play before Omarion Hampton's fumble; the deep right on third and 11; short left with four 36 left in the fourth; and short right on second and 18 with two oh seven left. One third-down target, no conversion. Neither catch reached the line to gain.
Six targets tied for second on the team with Tre Harris, behind seven to Ladd McConkey; five went to David Njoku, two to Oronde Gadsden, one to Derius Davis, none without a receiver. Among the wide receivers it was McConkey seven, Johnston six, Harris six — 19 targets, 10 catches, a hundred 19 yards, and McConkey had 82 of the yards and the touchdown on five of the catches. The Chargers threw 10 pass plays before halftime and 20 after; five of Johnston's six came after halftime, and four of those came after McConkey's last snap with 23 seconds left in the third quarter. McConkey left with a chest injury and did not return, per Eric Smith at Chargers.com.
Back in June the preview called Johnston a watchlist — the 40-first receiver at pick 100 after a per-game top-16 season built on eight touchdowns from 51 catches, a touchdown share the show expected to regress, on six targets a game, a complement's load behind McConkey. The things to watch were the touchdown rate and the split with McConkey. Sunday was six targets, the complement's load exactly, no touchdown, and a split of seven to six that became room to run once McConkey left, with four targets after that and one catch. One game does not regress a touchdown rate, and it does not promote a number two either. The Chargers are home to the Raiders on Sunday the twentieth.
_Data via nflverse._
When Quentin Johnston's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
Keep going