David Njoku primed to breakout in Fantasy Football in 2022
By Devin Lange
In fantasy football, the tight end position has oftentimes been one of the hardest positions to find deep talent in. In 2022, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews are the only tier one tight ends. Beyond that, the top 10 players at the position are interchangeable.
Likewise, the top 20 players are interchangeable, as well. Some of the current ranked TE2s might even perform as TE1s. One player primed to crack the top 10 is Cleveland Browns former first-round pick David Njoku.
David Njoku could finish as a top 10 tight end in fantasy, again.
Njoku will be entering his 6th year in the NFL. In his previous five years with the Browns, he has had a number of different quarterbacks with different talent levels passing to him. His career highs in receptions, yards, and touchdowns came in 2018 with Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield as his starters. He finished the season with 56 receptions, 639 yards, and four touchdowns. He finished as TE9 in PPR leagues that season.
This offseason, the Browns let former starting tight end Austin Hooper walk away in free agency. They allocated some of those resources to David Njoku’s contract extension. The Browns and Njoku agreed to a four-year, $56.75M contract extension in May. The extension and lack of other signings or draft picks indicate the Browns view Njoku as their clear cut starting tight end.
In 2022, David Njoku’s starting quarterback will be Jacoby Brissett for at least 11 games, if not more, depending upon how Deshaun Watson’s reinstatement process goes. That’s good news for Njoku because the journeyman constantly looks for tight ends in the passing game.
Jacoby Brissett feeds his tight ends the football
In 2019, as the Indianapolis Colts starting quarterback, Brissett targeted the tight end position on 29% of his passes in 2019. In PPR leagues that season, Jack Doyle finished as TE15 in 16 games played and Eric Ebron finished as TE27 in just 11 games.
In 2021, Miami Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki averaged 7.8 targets per game when Brissett was the starting quarterback. In these four games, Gesicki had at least 7 targets and at most 12 targets in all games. Gesicki averaged 4.8 targets per game with Tua Tagovailoa as the starting quarterback. In these 13 games, Gesicki had at least three targets and at most 11 targets in all games.
David Njoku could benefit from increased opportunities
Brissett has heightened his tight ends performance before, and there’s reason to believe he will do it again. With more potential targets, Njoku will have more opportunities to make receptions, gain yards, and score touchdowns. After losing Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. and only gaining Amari Cooper, the Browns starting QB will need someone to pass to.
Njoku is currently being drafted as TE18, or 169 overall in PPR. With his current ADP, you can prioritize other positions such as quarterback, running back, and wide receiver while still drafting a tight end that holds starting fantasy tight end upside.