Former NFL Scout Points Out Concerns About Quentin Johnston

It’s easy – – too easy to fall in love with Quentin Johnston.

This TCU receiver has dominant size and explosive initial quickness releasing into his routes.

He’s got hyper amounts of energy and great-looking straight-line speed driving downfield into the intermediate route level.

So what’s the problem?

Actually, that should be plural, because there are several problem(s).

One catch in the biggest game of his life?

Against Georgia in the National Championship game, Johnston put up one catch for three yards on two targets (the other was an interception).

Big-time players make big plays in big games, but Johnston didn’t.

Maybe the Georgia game won’t be that big of a deal, but in 13 games this season, Johnston was held to four catches or less in 10 of these games

Granted, it all added up to a respectable 60-catch season for 1,069 yards and 6 touchdowns.

The game-by-game production just doesn’t SCREAM dominance to match his dominant size, quickness, and speed.

Are you in good hands with Johnston?

We’ve all heard the slogan “You’re in good hands with Allstate,” but will the team who drafts Johnston be in good hands?

What am I talking about?

Over his three years at TCU, Johnston caught 115 passes ON 201 TARGETS! That’s a career college catch rate of 57%.

Granted, to his defense again, he improved in this area of his game from 50% (2020), 54% (2021) to 63% (2022). Keep in mind, however, this is against the college-level competition.

The primary job of a wide receiver is to catch the ball, and it took dramatically increasing his number of targets this season to see that increase in catch rate.

2020: 22 catches (44 targets)

2021: 33 catches (61 targets)

2022: 60 catches (96 targets)

Outside of the hard numbers

The even bigger piece to this puzzle is what he looked like on film in this three-game study.

I already had issues with what Johnston put on his 2021 game film, “There Is One Big Problem With TCU Receiver Quentin Johnston.”

My primary issue was what he looked like catching (or trying to catch) the ball.

This past season didn’t alleviate my concern.

Johnston is not a natural pass catcher

He tends to body catch, jumps when he doesn’t have to, and he looks like a fish out of water too often on the deep ball

Third-Round?

Yes, he shows first-round pure physical characteristics, but game film trumps all of that.

Dropping him at least into the third-round helps to mitigate the risk.

I wouldn’t take him and he wouldn’t even be on my board if I was a team general manager. However, for the team who does like what they see in him the third-round is a logical gamble based on the information at hand.

#1 Quentin Johnston 6-foot-4, 215 pounds

Daniel Kelly’s Final 2023 NFL Draft Grade: Third-Round (I would not select him)

Projected by 82.3% (up from 64.2% on September 27) of the NFL Draft Community to be a first-round pick as of January 11, 2023 (nflmockdraftdatabase.com)

First Round Mock Big Board: TBD

Bust Probability: High

2022 game film reviewed: Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas (click to view games watched to form this evaluation)

Level of competition: High

2021 stats: 33 receptions (61 targets and a 54% catch rate) 612 yards (18.5 avg.), 6 TD, 75-long

2022 stats: 60 receptions (96 targets and a 63% catch rate) 1,069 yards (17.8 avg.), 6 TD, 70-long

NFL comparable: Michael Westbrook

2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Tall and muscular receiver with good straight-line speed, decent athletic ability and average hands. Super initial quickness to achieve leverage and best in the intermediate route level where he can use his size and speed to drive off defenders and then box out at the breakpoints. Rigid and erect upright long strider. Nothing to write home about in terms of YAC. Tends to body catch (can double clutch) and jumps when he doesn’t have to which limits keeping his balance on YAC. Noticeable rigidity causes problems adjusting to the ball downfield. Limited catch radius. Below average high-pointing the ball deep. Not the kind of deep threat one may think. Willing to block. No. 2 or No. 3 receiver on a roster. Not a No. 1 receiver. Big rep player who didn’t make it add up on game film.

Final words

What happens when NFL defenses start clamping down and playing his intermediate game after quickly realizing he hasn’t Mossed anybody?

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He currently writes for Sports Illustrated New York Jets and he is the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. He can be followed on Twitter @firstroundmock.