David Njoku

"Injuries and QB situation are murky"

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Based on 2023, anyone with interest in having Njoku on their team is hoping Joe Flacco earns and keeps the starting job all year. Njoku has a fantasy ceiling of a top-three TE, but he also has the most trap doors of the prospects with that 2025 upside. 

1) Flacco may not start the entire year. 

2) Njoku is a high-functioning linear player whose best routes are straight-line patterns across the field or angling inside/outside. He's not skilled at man-to-man timing routes that Kittle, Kelce, McBride, and LaPorta can run. 

3) The Browns are returning to a higher percentage of 12 personnel sets (2 TEs). Harold Fannin, Jr. is capable of man-to-man timing routes and has strong YAC skills, He could cut into Njoku's production ceiling this year. 

I'd rather allow Njoku to fall to me than bank on him as a top-three TE. Even as one of the viable top-five TEs, he has the most scenarios that could hurt his value. 

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David Njoku is an amazing athlete at the tight end position and put that on full display in 2023, finishing with 81 receptions on 123 targets for 882 yards and 6 touchdowns in 16 games. That was good for a TE6 finish in Standard Footballguys Scoring points per game (7.8). With the market lower on Njoku entering the 2025 season, he must’ve disappointed last season, right? Wrong. He missed six games due to ankle, hamstring, and knee injuries, so recency bias is likely affecting his cost; however, he showed improvement in 2024.

Here are his 2023 per-game stats: 7.7 targets, 5.1 receptions, 55.1 receiving yards, and 0.375 touchdowns. Now let’s compare those to his 2024 per-game stats: 8.8 targets, 5.8 receptions, 45.9 receiving yards, and 0.45 touchdowns. Njoku commanded more targets, caught more passes, and scored more touchdowns per game last season. He’ll be just 29 years old this year. Take full advantage of this discount and draft Njoku.