The Houston Texans are set to host the Los Angeles Chargers in Sunday’s wildcard round. It’s a difficult road ahead for the AFC South winners, who lost Stefon Diggs to an ACL injury in Week 8 and Tank Dell to a knee injury in Week 16. The Chargers might also have to play with one of their star wideouts, Quentin Johnston.
Johnston has been struggling with his health throughout the season. Let’s take a look at what happened to the Chargers WR and his availability for the big game.
What Happened to Quentin Johnston?
Update: Johnston is officially active and is going to play in the Chargers game against the Texans.
Johnston drew a questionable tag for Saturday’s Wild Card game against the Texans, due to a thigh injury and an illness. Johnston logged a limited practice on Tuesday and a ‘DNP’ on Wednesday before returning to a limited session on Thursday. However, he is “good to go” for the contest, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler
Based on Fowler’s report, the wideout (who put up a career-best 13-186-0 receiving line on 14 targets in the Chargers’ Week 18 win over the Raiders) is on track to be available for Saturday’s 4:30 ET kickoff, with official confirmation of his status, either way, set to arrive once Los Angeles’ inactives are posted.
The Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh addressed the media ahead of the game against the Texans. He commented on Johnston’s performance this season.
“He’s been doing it, playing at a high level all season. He’s an incredible competitor, that’s what it says about him. The talent, the effort, his toughness, he brings a level of toughness to our team that is at a very high level. Great performance,” Harbaugh said.
Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh on Quentin Johnston:
“He’s an incredible competitor…the talent, the effort, his toughness. He brings a level of toughness that’s a very high level. Great performance.” pic.twitter.com/2i0OxWGVpv— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) January 6, 2025
In a game they clearly wanted to win last week to set up this Wild Card matchup (as opposed to traveling to Baltimore), Johnston accounted for 46.4% of Justin Herbert’s completions, gashing Vegas’ secondary at will.
The former first-round pick fetched 711 yards, 55 receptions and eight touchdowns for the Chargers this season after missing a few games due to an ankle injury. The 13-186-0 explosion last week was clearly the highlight of his career up to this point, though he had been trending in the right direction for the past month.
Quentin Johnston’s Fantasy Outlook
As of Saturday, Johnston is projected to score 13.1 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 4 receptions for 54.7 yards and 0.6 touchdowns.
Johnston is a big body capable of making a single target worth your while — the recent usage trends are icing on the cake. I’m interested in DFS this week and very interested in the later stages of playoff-long leagues, with a Chargers run through January not being a crazy thought.
MORE: Quentin Johnston’s Fantasy, DFS, and Betting Outlook
Los Angeles Chargers vs Houston Texans Preview
- Location: NRG Stadium, Houston
- Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
- Channel: CBS/Paramount+
The Chargers have thrived as road favorites this season, going 5-1 in such games. Their lone loss came against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 7. Notably, Los Angeles covered the spread in all five of its road-favorite victories.
The Chargers finished fourth in PFN’s Defense+ rankings, largely thanks to their dominance against bottom-half offenses.
Los Angeles faced eight teams that ranked in the bottom half of PFN’s Offense+ rankings this season, going 7-1 in those matchups. In those games, the Chargers allowed just 11.9 points per game while achieving a 64.0% defensive success rate.
Justin Herbert ended the regular season on a hot streak. Over his final three games—against the Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, and Las Vegas Raiders—he led the league with 0.47 EPA per dropback.
His cumulative QB+ grade during that stretch was 84.2 (B), which, over a full season, would have ranked 11th, just behind Patrick Mahomes.
The Texans’ pass rush could pose significant challenges. A major factor in Houston’s seventh-place finish in PFN’s Defense+ rankings was its ability to convert pressure into sacks.
While the Texans ranked 20th in overall pressure rate (33%), they finished fourth in sack rate (8.1%) and converted 24.7% of pressures into sacks—the fifth-best mark in the league.
Notably, the Chargers led the NFL in points allowed per game against bottom-half Offense+ units this season. The Texans finished 28th in PFN’s Offense+ metric, the lowest ranking of any team to qualify for the playoffs.