As we gear up to the start of the NFL season, Football Absurdity is going to bring you a comprehensive breakdown of every notable player that will be available in fantasy football drafts. When David Njoku came out of college, he received praise normally reserved for guys who become NFL stars. Now in his fourth season, that hasn’t come to fruition. Why so many obstacles? Can he overcome them in 2020?
David Njoku ADP and AAV:
Standard: TE23, 195 overall
PPR: TE34, 269 overall
Average Auction Value: $0
David Njoku Statistics:
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| G | 4 | 16 | 16 |
| GS | 1 | 14 | 5 |
| Tgt | 10 | 88 | 60 |
| Rec | 5 | 56 | 32 |
| Yards | 41 | 639 | 386 |
| TD | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Tgt/G | 2.5 | 5.5 | 3.8 |
| Rec/G | 1.25 | 3.50 | 2.00 |
| Rec% | 10.3 | 39.9 | 24.1 |
| Yds/Tgt | 4.10 | 7.26 | 6.43 |
| Yds/Rec | 4.100 | 7.261 | 6.433 |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Std Pts | 10.1 | 87.9 | 62.7 |
| HPPR Pts | 9.6 | 142.9 | 80.7 |
| PPR Pts | 15.1 | 143.9 | 94.7 |
| Pts/G | 0.6 | 22.0 | 3.9 |
| HPPR Pts/G | 0.6 | 35.7 | 5.0 |
| PPR Pts/G | 0.9 | 36.0 | 5.9 |
| Pts/Tgt | 1.01 | 1.00 | 1.05 |
| Pts/Tgt (HPPR) | 0.96 | 1.62 | 1.35 |
| Pts/Tgt (HPPR) | 1.51 | 1.64 | 1.58 |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Air Yards | 96 | 780 | 635 |
| aDOT | 9.6 | 8.9 | 10.6 |
| YAC | 16 | 280 | 151 |
| YAC/Tgt | 1.60 | 3.18 | 2.52 |
| YAC/Rec | 3.20 | 5.09 | 4.72 |
| YAC% | 39.0% | 44.6% | 39.1% |
| AYMS | 11% | 15% | 12% |
| Tgt MS | 10% | 17% | 10% |
David Njoku Overview:
David Njoku broke his wrist at the beginning of the season and broke Freddie Kitchens’ heart or something upon his return. Njoku played 20 snaps in his return from a broken wrist in week fourteen and four snaps the rest of the year. Njoku was easily one of the best players on the team last year but was just unable to get out of Kitchens’ dog house last year, torpedoing his season. But, as Baker Mayfield so eloquently put it:
This year, though, this is Njoku’s year! Kevin Stefanski loves tight ends, and he should get plenty of opportunities! Rather, that all was true before the Browns went out and gave Austin Hooper a record tight end contract. Well, so much for that.
Njoku reportedly wants out of Cleveland, but given the COVID-19 situation, it’s more likely that the Browns keep him around in a “Break Glass in Case of Emergency” role for their offense. As such, expect a lot of shots of a sad David Njoku on the sidelines this season. Unless…?
David Njoku Draft Strategy:
David Njoku Auction Value: $0
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet!
Please don’t draft David Njoku. There are too many people ahead of him in the target pecking order to justify that pick off the bat. But keep an eye on the Cleveland Browns injury report. The target volume is extremely top-heavy, with non-RB targets mostly centering around Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, and Austin Hooper. An injury to one of those guys could mean more production for David Njoku, who is better than Cleveland’s WR3. See, you don’t even know who their WR3 is. That’s how good he is. No, it isn’t Antonio Callaway. It’s one of Rashard Higgins, KhaDarel Hodge, Damion Ratley, or Donovan Peoples-Jones.
It will likely be Njoku, and not one of those guys, if and when a Browns WR goes down with an injury. Why? With Minnesota last year, Kevin Stefanski threw out of 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) 44% of the time last year, second-most in the league. He also threw out of 3-WR sets just 28% of the time, the lowest in the league by 10%. Only three teams threw the ball out of 1-1 less than 50% of the time. Minnesota, Arizona, and Philadelphia. That creates a lot of opportunity for Njoku should one of those guys go down.
Best Case Scenario:
The Browns make it two-straight years that Kevin Stefanski is a prolific two-tight end set passer, and Njoku sneaks in some backend TE1 value.
Worst Case Scenario:
David Njoku looks back fondly on his time with Freddie Kitchens, where he averaged a snap-per-week in the last four weeks of the season.
[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com and airyards.com]
