The Chargers’ wide receiver room took a couple of knocks in the preseason, but the early read is that neither Quentin Johnston nor Tre’ Harris appears headed for a long absence.
Johnston’s injury came on August 18 while he was working against 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir. The video showed an awkward landing, with Johnston twisting his ankle/foot.
The encouraging part for Los Angeles is that the injury is being treated as minor, and the team expects him back soon. Johnston sat out the Chargers’ second preseason game, though plenty of other starters were held out as well.
Harris missed the preseason game on Thursday night, August 20, because of an undisclosed injury. According to Kris Rhim of ESPN, he is expected to return to practice over the weekend. For now, it looks like the Chargers have avoided anything serious in a receiver group that is shaping up to be a real part of the offense in 2026.
That offense enters the year ranked 12th in the NFL, though it has the kind of talent that gives it top-five upside. Justin Herbert leads a group that also includes Omarion Hampton, Ladd McConkey, Johnston, Harris, David Njoku, and Oronde Gadsden II.
The projection model here has Los Angeles around 225 passing yards per game under Mike McDaniel’s passing offense, with a 58.5% pass rate that sits just above league average. Herbert is projected for another 17 rushing yards per game, along with 1.6 total touchdowns and 0.4 interceptions per game. That leaves him as QB12, though only 0.4 FPPG behind QB6 Jalen Hurts.
McConkey is expected to be the clear passing-game centerpiece. While some fantasy managers are calling him "The Next Jaxon Smith-Njigba," that comparison doesn’t hold up here.
Smith-Njigba’s 36% target share is a big benchmark, and McConkey is projected closer to a 30% target share and a 26% yard share, helped by his 12.6 yards per catch. The forecast has him at 57 yards and 0.4 touchdowns per game, which places him as WR23 in non-PPR and WR22 in PPR.
Johnston sits as the Chargers’ WR2, but only barely ahead of Harris. His projection comes in at a 17% share of the yardage, translating to 38 yards and 0.3 touchdowns per game.
Harris is the name drawing the most buzz, and that’s been reflected in the praise he’s gotten on social media. The 2025 rookie was used to his advantage often, and McDaniel plans to make a bigger effort to get the Ole Miss product involved in 2026.
Earlier this month, McDaniel said, "He’s absolutely starving to improve. Fast enough to be a WR for every team and has a physical style-more physical than some of the tight ends I’ve been around."
The projection has Harris at about a 15% share of the yardage and roughly the same in target share, good for 34 yards and 0.25 touchdowns per game. In non-PPR, Johnston and Harris land at WR50 and WR55, respectively, while Johnston stays there in full PPR and Harris moves up to WR54.
In Other News...
Chargers Leave Ugly Loss With Two Bigger Problems Than The Score
The Chargers preseason loss to the 49ers was messy enough on the scoreboard, but the bigger concern came from everything around it. Penalties, missed assignments and an offense that never found much rhythm made it a rough night for a team still trying to set its tone under Jim Harbaugh, and the coach did not hide from the fact that the details were not good enough.
Tyler Biadaszs left ACL injury only adds to the unease, because the center spot now has to be reworked on the fly. Rookie Jake Slaughter is expected to slide into the starting job, while Harbaugh also has an unsettled backup quarterback battle still hanging over the roster, leaving the Chargers with more to sort out than a lopsided preseason score. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Roster Battle Took A Harsh Turn In Preseason Loss
The preseason trip against the 49ers was less about the final score than the Chargers ongoing roster audit, and several players made cases for themselves in live action. Junior Colson stood out on defense with an interception and multiple tackles, Devin Grant also came away with a pick, and Gregory Desrosiers led the running backs in rushing yards, all of it the kind of production that can matter when coaches start narrowing down jobs.
Not every audition went smoothly, though, and Devonte Ross had a rough moment when a muffed punt undercut his chance to build momentum. In a game designed to sort out the back end of the roster, those kinds of mistakes can linger just as long as the highlights, which is why the Chargers will likely spend as much time studying the errors as the takeaways from a night that brought clarity to some spots and more pressure to others. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Leave Chargers Game With A Bigger Concern Than The Score
A preseason game can fade quickly once the result is in the books, and Sundays matchup in Los Angeles felt like one of those nights for the 49ers. They left with a win over the Chargers, but the bigger concern was the list of players who were banged up along the way, including offensive lineman Austen Pleasants, cornerback Renardo Green and linebacker Nick Martin, all of whom exited with injuries.
Kyle Shanahan said Pleasants knee injury is not an ACL tear, while Green and Martin are still waiting on more imaging after hamstring issues. Left guard Robert Jones is also dealing with an unspecified injury that could affect his availability for the next game, giving San Francisco plenty to monitor even as the preseason calendar keeps moving. [Read more 🡒]