The Los Angeles Chargers will face the Houston Texans on Wild Card Weekend. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding WR Quentin Johnston.
Is Quentin Johnston Playing vs. the Texans?
Johnston (thigh/illness), who is listed as questionable for Saturday’s wild-card round game against the Texans, is “good to go” for the contest, a source tells Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com.
Johnston logged a limited practice on Tuesday and a ‘DNP’ on Wednesday before returning to a limited session on Thursday.
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.
We’ll continue to monitor the Chargers’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Quentin Johnston on Wild Card Weekend?
Here comes Quentin Johnston.
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.
Sure, there’s a reason that the Raiders are planning for the draft and not a game this week, but it’s hard to have success like that at the professional level, and he did it while Ladd McConkey was his normal productive self (95 yards on eight targets). That explosion (13-186-0) was clearly the highlight of his career up to this point, though he had been trending in the right direction for the past month.
- Weeks 1-14: targeted on 19.7% of routes
- Weeks 15-18: targeted on 29.5% of routes
What we can expect in this game is likely something in the middle of those two percentages, and that might be enough to encourage me to get some contrarian exposure against the defense that allows passing touchdowns at the highest rate among the remaining teams.
McConkey is going to be the popular piece from Los Angeles, and he should be. Heck, I could see J.K. Dobbins pulling in some nice ownership as well after proving his health (18 carries in Week 18) and the expected game script leaning in his favor.
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.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Wild Card Weekend Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Quentin Johnston’s Fantasy Points Projection on Wild Card Weekend
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.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight on the Texans' Defense
The Texans' defense has become the team's backbone this season, but the unit had faltered in back-to-back losses against the Baltimore Ravens and Chiefs.
In that respect, finishing the season against the Tennessee Titans served as a nice dose of mouthwash ahead of the playoffs. Houston ends the season as a top-10 unit thanks to one of the best pass rushes in the NFL.
Led by the tandem of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, the Texans ended with the fourth-highest sack rate and second-best pass success rate of any defense this year. Houston wasn't shabby on the ground either, ranking eighth in success rate and fifth in EPA per play against the run.
Houston has the lowest Offense+ grade of any team in the playoff field, putting the burden on this unit to carry the team to a win against any meaningful competition. The Texans' playoff ceiling is certainly capped as a result, but this unit is capable of stealing one game at home.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Quentin Johnston’s Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 8:30 AM ET on Saturday, January 11. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Wild Card Superflex Rankings.
Wild Card WR PPR Rankings
1) Justin Jefferson | MIN (at LAR)
2) Puka Nacua | LAR (vs. MIN)
3) A.J. Brown | PHI (vs. GB)
4) Nico Collins | HOU (vs. LAC)
5) Mike Evans | TB (vs. WAS)
6) Ladd McConkey | LAC (at HOU)
7) Terry McLaurin | WAS (at TB)
8) Courtland Sutton | DEN (at BUF)
9) DeVonta Smith | PHI (vs. GB)
10) Jordan Addison | MIN (at LAR)
11) Cooper Kupp | LAR (vs. MIN)
12) George Pickens | PIT (at BAL)
13) Jalen McMillan | TB (vs. WAS)
14) Khalil Shakir | BUF (vs. DEN)
15) Quentin Johnston | LAC (at HOU)
16) Jayden Reed | GB (at PHI)
17) Marvin Mims Jr. | DEN (at BUF)
18) Rashod Bateman | BAL (vs. PIT)
19) Keon Coleman | BUF (vs. DEN)
20) Romeo Doubs | GB (at PHI)
21) Olamide Zaccheaus | WAS (at TB)
22) Amari Cooper | BUF (vs. DEN)
23) Calvin Austin III | PIT (at BAL)
24) Dontayvion Wicks | GB (at PHI)
25) John Metchie III | HOU (vs. LAC)
26) Jalen Nailor | MIN (at LAR)
27) Devaughn Vele | DEN (at BUF)
28) Dyami Brown | WAS (at TB)
29) Sterling Shepard | TB (vs. WAS)
30) Mack Hollins | BUF (vs. DEN)
31) Mike Williams | PIT (at BAL)
32) Tutu Atwell | LAR (vs. MIN)
33) Diontae Johnson | HOU (vs. LAC)
34) Nelson Agholor | BAL (vs. PIT)
35) Demarcus Robinson | LAR (vs. MIN)
36) DJ Chark | LAC (at HOU)
37) Van Jefferson | PIT (at BAL)
38) Jamison Crowder | WAS (at TB)
39) Troy Franklin | DEN (at BUF)
40) Robert Woods | HOU (vs. LAC)
41) Malik Heath | GB (at PHI)
42) Curtis Samuel | BUF (vs. DEN)
43) Xavier Hutchinson | HOU (vs. LAC)
44) Bo Melton | GB (at PHI)
45) Jordan Whittington | LAR (vs. MIN)
46) Tylan Wallace | BAL (vs. PIT)
47) Derius Davis | LAC (at HOU)
48) Jahan Dotson | PHI (vs. GB)
49) Lil'Jordan Humphrey | DEN (at BUF)
50) Luke McCaffrey | WAS (at TB)
51) Tyler Johnson | LAR (vs. MIN)
52) Ryan Miller | TB (vs. WAS)
53) Devontez Walker | BAL (vs. PIT)
54) Trey Palmer | TB (vs. WAS)
55) Johnny Wilson | PHI (vs. GB)
56) Rakim Jarrett | TB (vs. WAS)
57) Brandon Powell | MIN (at LAR)
58) Ainias Smith | PHI (vs. GB)
59) Anthony Miller | BAL (vs. PIT)
60) Christian Watson | GB (at PHI)
61) Tyrell Shavers | BUF (vs. DEN)
62) Roman Wilson | PIT (at BAL)
63) K.J. Osborn | BUF (vs. DEN)
64) Dennis Houston | TB (vs. WAS)
65) Dayton Wade | BAL (vs. PIT)
66) Parris Campbell | PHI (vs. GB)
67) Dez Fitzpatrick | LAC (at HOU)
68) David Sills V | DEN (at BUF)
69) Cody Thompson | TB (vs. WAS)
70) Brycen Tremayne | WAS (at TB)
71) Cornelius Johnson | GB (at PHI)
72) Kazmeir Allen | WAS (at TB)
73) Lucky Jackson | MIN (at LAR)
74) Drake Stoops | LAR (vs. MIN)
75) Danny Gray | PHI (vs. GB)
76) Xavier Smith | LAR (vs. MIN)
Chargers at Texans Trends and Insights
Los Angeles Chargers
Team: The +101 point differential posted by the Chargers this season is their best since outscoring the opposition by 119 points in 2010.
QB: Justin Herbert is the first Chargers player to complete two-thirds of his passes with 280 yards and multiple scores through the air in three straight games (prior to him, it had been in consecutive games nine times in franchise history).
Offense: Los Angeles has averaged over 3.0 points per drive three times this season … Weeks 16-17-18.
Defense: Opponents have converted just nine of 32 third downs over the past three weeks (28.1%).
Fantasy: Ladd McConkey finishes his rookie season with three straight games north of 85 receiving yards. His six such games match the franchise record for a rookie (2013 Keenan Allen).
Betting: The Texans finished the regular season 3-5 ATS at home, with unders going 6-1-1.
Houston Texans
Team: The Texans are 1-6 in their last seven games with C.J. Stroud under center against a winning team and have been outscored 196-106 in those contests.
QB: C.J. Stroud threw 116 deep passes (15+ air yards) last season and 122 this season. The attempt count was similar, but the success rate was very different.
- 2023: 9 touchdowns and 0 interceptions
- 2024: 5 touchdowns and 7 interceptions
Offense: Houston averages 1.81 points per drive this season. When they reach that number, they are 7-2 (3-5 otherwise).
Defense: The Texans are 9-1 this season when stopping the opposition on over 60% of their third down opportunities (1-6 otherwise).
Fantasy: Nico Collins has appeared in eight Texan victories this season, and in those games, he’s produced 41.7% over PPR expectations.
Betting: Unders are 4-1 in Houston’s past five games.