In one month, the Cleveland Browns will host the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1 of the NFL regular season. With the regular season fast approaching, August is the month when most fantasy football drafts take place. As fans prepare to build their fantasy football team, the question becomes, which Browns player should be the “must-have” this year?
That would be tight end David Njoku.
In ESPN’s 2024 tight end rankings, Njoku is ranked No. 8. The seven tight ends ahead of him are Travis Kelce of Kansas City, Sam LaPorta of Detroit, Mark Andrews of Baltimore, Trey McBride of Arizona, Evan Engram of Jacksonville, Dalton Kincaid of Buffalo and George Kittle of San Francisco.
Behind Njoku in the rankings rounding out the top 10 are Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts and Dallas’ Jake Ferguson. Pitts has been severely underused in Atlanta’s offense over the past few seasons, causing him to underperform from a fantasy football perspective. The 2024 season should be better with Kirk Cousins, but that’s all just assumption.
As for Ferguson, he has established himself as the Cowboys’ best tight end. Although he caught 71 passes for 761 yards and five touchdowns in 2023, it might be risky to trust him to repeat that and consistently score 10 or more fantasy points per week. Dallas should be pretty pass-heavy this year due to the on-paper weak running back room. CeeDee Lamb will handle the lion’s share of passing, while Brandin Cooks, Jalen Tolbert and Ferguson should get many of the other passes. The potential is there, but personally, I don’t quite trust Ferguson to be a regular starting tight end yet.
So why is David Njoku considered a “must have” for 2024?
In 2023, he led the Browns with 81 passes caught and was targeted 123 times. Those caught passes resulted in 882 yards and six touchdowns. Part of that output is thanks to Joe Flacco late in the regular season, but even if Njoku’s numbers dip a bit this season, he will still be a threat in the red zone. In 2022, Njoku caught 58 passes but still managed to score four touchdowns. He also had four touchdowns in 2021 with just 36 passes caught. As long as he stays healthy this season, the veteran’s minimum output seems to be around four touchdown receptions.
One outstanding trait Njoku has shown compared to most other tight ends in the league is his ability to gain yards after the catch. His physicality combined with decent speed is an advantage. Kevin Stefanski has taken advantage of this by setting screens for Njoku. One or two of these per game will easily net a few fantasy football points with another catch and some extra yards.
If you come in on the clock in your fantasy football draft and don’t have a tight end, but players like Kelce, LaPorta, Andrews, McBride, Engram, Kincaid and Kittle are out, don’t pass up on Njoku. The risk of a drop in performance at that point is too great.
Because there is some uncertainty about what Deshaun Watson will do statistically and when Nick Chubb will return, these two players aren’t as high on the lists at their respective positions. At the wide receiver position, Amari Cooper is an asset, but he typically never gets as many targets as many other No. 1 wide receivers for their respective teams.
David Njoku should honestly be the top priority in fantasy football this year when it comes to Cleveland Browns players.
