Quentin Johnston: Navigating The Consistently Inconsistent Play

Is everything coachable/fixable?

We’ve all heard the term “polarizing” or “divisive”, and in every NFL Draft, there are a bucket of prospects who fall into that category. As he was making his rise to the potential WR1 of the 2023 NFL Draft, Quentin Johnston put up some major numbers against Kansas and Oklahoma State, and made a key play to stave off Texas later in the season. In the playoff, we saw an explosion for Johnston against Michigan, but just one catch against Georgia.

The talk of him as WR1 was likely due to his ascending play over the season, while others like Jaxon Smith-Njigba (injury), Kayshon Boutte (working back from injury), and Jordan Addison (new team) didn’t make the splash in 2022.

That ascending play was very exciting.

Johnston generated explosive plays at a high clip, especially after the catch. In an era of playing in space and the quick/RPO game making its way through the league, it paints a picture of early production for Johnston in the NFL. His quickness in the short area gives him the ability to make the first man miss. What’s unique about his play post-catch in this class is that he’s added a little jump before the ball arrives. What this does is keep himself from staying stationary at the catch point, and it also gives him the ability to explode off of his plant foot, generating early explosiveness for huge gains with the ball in his hands. He also adds in a head fake to get the defender guessing the wrong direction. The ability to have eyes in the back of one’s head and the feel for where defenders are is a huge advantage. Against Michigan, his hesitation move resulted in a long touchdown, adding to the repertoire that he has post-catch.

Where The Inconsistencies Lie (Pre-Catch)

With Johnston, the narratives often stray to absolutes, which lacks the nuance of how Johnston currently plays the receiver position. What we can say is that the “consistently inconsistent” play holds up.

Let’s take this to the release and route running portion of the evaluation. The narrative is that Johnston isn’t a good route runner and “can’t separate”, which isn’t really true. Johnston has the acceleration to separate in a linear speed fashion down the field.

Because he’s very adept at pressing to win vertically on every snap, it opens the door for him to win underneath on curl/hook routes and comeback routes, one of the toughest with which to create separation. With curl/hook routes, he can get defenders to open the gate early, and his ability to decelerate, drop his hips with impressive flexibility, and limit yardage displacement to create said break, the separation comes with ease. Those efficient breaks are crucial to become a strong route runner, and Johnston has it.

What really makes Johnston a rare athlete with route running chops is this rep against Michigan. His ability to sell the post route before quickly getting in and out of his break for the comeback route is so impressive. Not many receivers can make it look that easy.

With his release, Johnston can quickly square with a split release, and immediately accelerate into his stem to gain quick leverage. His shuffle release is also a great tool to move defenders and create a window to win on the slant route.

Now, not everything works for Johnston. When it comes to in-breaking routes, he struggles to maintain any shred of separation that he gets within the stem. It feels like he isn’t accelerating at the break point or is slowing to expect the ball and get in position for post-catch activities.

When it comes to his release, Johnston has to very it up. It’s clear that he won't vary up tempo and likes to stick with what has worked, and defensive backs pick up on it. Michigan and Georgia had Johnston in the gulag in terms of press-man coverage. He struggled to handle the physicality early at the line. The good news is that it can be fixed. He has the functional length and physical play to utilize his hands to keep defenders from erasing him. But, it has to happen quickly in the pros.

A part of a great route runner is identifying coverage and making adjustments to find holes in zone coverage. Johnston does a great job stressing zone coverage on crossers, but his route depth on the vertical plane often gets blanketed with little adjustment.

Is Catching The Football A True Issue?

Drops, drops, drops. Quentin Johnston saw his drop rate climb back up near 12 percent (11.8 in 2022 per PFF) like it was in 2020. It prevailed all season long, but this was another consistent inconsistency.

Johnston has proven to elevate at the catch point and win above the rim and in contested spots, but there are times where the ball comes loose with hits. Winning just 8 of 23 contested balls isn’t the best look for a 6’2 3/4”, 208-pound receiver.

Let’s get to the drops though. The biggest description Johnston gets is that he’s a “body catcher”, which of course means he lets the ball into his body and uses his chest to absorb velocity and uses his hands to pin the ball to himself. That definitely happens in tight windows and at the catch point, but the simple drops don’t necessarily fall under that reason.

We’ve seen Johnston pluck the ball well out of the air, both on the easy ones and at the catch point. He even hauled in a one-hander last season against Baylor. So, it seems more like a hand timing issue or a concentration issue. It’s recently been brought up by Johnston’s skill coach, David Robinson, that body catching isn’t 1) necessarily bad and 2) that Johnston sometimes is preparing for post-catch activities, and that momentary lapse of concentration elsewhere leads to the ball creeping into his frame, giving off an illusion of a body catch even when his hands are away from his frame.

That concentration skill must improve, and if multitasking isn’t an option (some with natural hands can do it), Johnston must sacrifice that moment of extra preparation to secure a clean catch.

The other big issue regarding the catch point phase is whether he should track the ball or elevate to win the catch point. There are times where he lacks a bit of defender/spatial awareness, which leads him to believe that him stacking a corner can lead to a catch that he can track into his frame and maintain his speed. Those instances often lead to pass breakups, because the safety is nearby and Johnston doesn’t see him. Realizing when to elevate should lean to more contested wins.

Is It Fixable?

The easy answer is yes, of course. Johnston’s concentration drops, predictable release, spatial awareness, catch point instincts, and zone coverage success rate can improve with better technique, diversification, and understanding of coverage. The right coach can get Quentin Johnston up to par with where he needs to be for Sundays.

The question is, in the fast-paced environment that is the NFL, can Johnston reach a plane of playing loose and playing naturally in all of these phases. Can he, in the moment, realize he needs to elevate? Can he remember to secure the ball and then attack post-catch? A sped up cognitive process will be key for him to get it done.

This is why his range in rankings is all over the place. Pre-catch success, catch point success, and production all come and go. That pushes him down the board for me (WR3) but not too far. The upside is too great, and if everything improves, he can be the true “X” and potentially the only WR1 in the class.