El SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Chargers brought back receiver Mike Williams, who spent 2024 with the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers. Drafted two receivers in April to provide more support for quarterback Justin Herbert.
They added those three in a receivers room that is led by Ladd McConkey, who is coming off a franchise record-breaking 82 receptions, 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns in his rookie year.
It seems like a crammed receiving room, but don't forget about Quentin Johnston.
"Water off a duck's back," Chargers receivers coach Sanjay Lal said. "I told him he's a starter because he is, and he's operating that way."
That is what Lal said when asked about how Johnston responded to all of the additions and competition that has been added to the room.
Johnston was Herbert's second most dependable receiver, behind McConkey, in terms of productivity. The receivers' coach saw how hard Johnston worked with him to correct mistakes from his rookie year.
Lal was honest when asked about the way rookies Tre Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith have looked since joining the team.
"They're picking up the offense really well," Lal said. "They're behind physically. They've been on the banquet circuit, going on 30 visits, et cetera. So their fitness is not like our other guys, so we're bringing them along slowly, but I have seen the skill sets that we drafted those are showing up. Just got to get them more in shape."
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It will take time for them to make the transition to the NFL, which is good that Lal is preaching patience with the rookies.
When asked about all the additions to the receiver's room, Johnston was pretty blunt.
"Head down, just keep working," Johnston said.
That is what the third-year receiver has done for the last two seasons. He has faced scrutiny from all over since being drafted by the team in 2023.
There were challenging games in his rookie year, for example, his drop on 2nd-and-6, which, if caught, could have turned into a 70-yard touchdown to take the lead with under 25 seconds left in Green Bay. It was tough but a learning experience.
"I feel like having gone through the ups and downs, being shaky on certain things," Johnston said. "Kind of just going back and off-season, reflecting on all that. Then going into the next season, kind of already know what to expect and how to move, how to do certain things in certain situations was a big help for me."
Johnston is coming off an "ascension," a term used by the receiver and his coach on Tuesday when discussing the transition from year two to year three.
"One expectation that he keeps ascending," Lal said. "And I can't put a ceiling on it. It is what it's going to be. He works hard, he's diligent, he's self-aware, so he's very much on the right track."
In his rookie year, Johnston had 38 receptions for 431 yards and two touchdowns. In his second season, he almost doubled all three areas, catching 55 passes for 711 yards and eight touchdowns.
He looked more confident and had multiple games with 40+ receiving yards, which is an improvement. He had two games over 100 yards, with the final one of the regular season going for 186 yards against the Raiders.
That was the good.
Now for the bad: he had two zero-catch performances, one against the Baltimore Ravens and the other in the wild-card loss against the Houston Texans. He missed two games due to an ankle injury. Lastly, he had three performances with less than 20 yards receiving.
Depending on who is asked, there are two different perspectives on his second season, but there is no denying that there were improvements.
His second year is a mirror image of Mike Williams.
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Mike Williams #81 of the Los Angeles Chargers catches the ball during the Los Angeles Chargers offseason workouts at The Bolt on May 12, 2025 in El Segundo, California.
Williams was drafted seventh overall in 2017 and received heavy criticism for only producing 95 yards in 10 games played while dealing with multiple injuries.
In year two, Williams jumped up to 43 receptions for 664 yards and catching ten touchdowns.
It was year three when he went over 1,000 receiving yards—Something that Johnston is eyeing.
"Probably reaching 1000 yards this year, for sure," Johnston said.
For now, Johnston's name is written in pencil, but he understands that improvements and competitions will be won in July and August.
There will be a lot more competition for playing time, but it's nothing new for him.
"Ascension" is his ultimate goal.
"I feel like, for the most part, taking a step up from my first year, and that's all I'm really focused on," Johnston said. "Focusing on I'm going up and not going down."