RADIO
David Njoku 2019 Outlook: Low-Floor TE Due For Regression
5 years agoCleveland Browns tight end David Njoku has had an inconsistent start to his career, but there’s no doubting the fact that the 22-year-old has great potential. Entering his third season in the NFL, Njoku’s numbers improved when Baker Mayfield took the reigns but still left a lot to be desired overall. He caught 56-of-88 targets for 639 receiving yards and four touchdowns in 2018, with a 39.9 yards per game average and a horrendous 63.6% catch percentage (13th among tight ends). He only had eight total red zone targets (14th among tight ends) and finished the year ranked 9th among tight ends with a 9.6 fantasy points per game average (PPR format). Njoku did garner a 16.9% target share in 2018 (second to Jarvis Landry), but that figures to take a significant hit in 2019 with a big-ticket offseason move made by the Browns front office. Enter Odell Beckham Jr., an all-pro talent who will undoubtedly demand a sizable chunk of looks in 2019. OBJ, Landry, Nick Chubb, Antonio Callaway, and (eventually) Kareem Hunt represent a talented and deep skill position depth chart, and it’s hard to envision a scenario where Njoku doesn’t see some form of regression this year. He’s being drafted as TE10 (OVR100) currently, and that's right about where it should be.
