Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnston believes he can improve on his productive 2025 campaign under new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.
"I feel like the scheme he has is set up for the yards after catch," Johnston said, according to team writer Omar Navarro. "There's not always a lot of room for that in this league, but just showing us different angles and stuff to get to the ball after the catch and turning, going across the field and doing different stuff in the plays he has built for us."
Johnston added, "In college, I was a big yard-after-catch guy, so when he introduced some of those things to us during meetings and at practice, it lit me up a little bit. I'm really fired up about that."
McDaniel was hired to replace Greg Roman after a four-year run as Miami Dolphins head coach. The 43-year-old's offensive scheme specializes in getting pass-catchers the ball in space; Miami ranked eighth in yards after catch from 2022-25, according to TruMedia. Los Angeles' 4.8 yards after catch per reception ranked 23rd among all teams last season.
After a disappointing 2023 rookie campaign, Johnston produced back-to-back solid seasons. The former first-round pick set a career high in receiving yards in 2025 with 735 while racking up eight scores on 51 catches. Out of 67 players who had at least 75 targets in 2025, Johnston's 14.4 yards per reception ranked 12th across the league.
Los Angeles showed faith in the TCU product this offseason by exercising his fifth-year option, keeping Johnston under contract through the 2027 campaign.
"It went to where I was at that time and then kind of just going back to my first year, reflecting on what I've been through and stuff like that," Johnston said of getting his option picked up. "Very excited when I got the call."
The Chargers are heading into the third season of the Jim Harbaugh era. The club hasn't gotten past the wild-card round since the 2018 campaign and hasn't reached a conference championship game since 2007.
Los Angeles will begin training camp July 23 and open its season versus the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 13.
