The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Rookie tight end Njoku a perfect fit
David Njoku
POSITION » Tight end HEIGHT, WEIGHT » 6-foot-4, 246 BIRTHDATE » July 10, 1996 YEARS PRO » Rookie COLLEGE » Miami of Florida RANKING » Seventh of 25
NJOKU’S BACKGROUND » The Browns have been drafting players in the NFL since 1950 (excluding 1996 to 1998 when they did not have a team). In 2017, for the first time in their history, they took three players in the first round.
After selecting defensive end Myles Garrett with the first pick and trading down and taking safety Jabrill Peppers 25th, the Browns did not want to wait to make the first pick in the second round – pick 33 overall. Instead, they traded pick 33 and pick 108 to the Green Bay Packers to select Njoku with the 29th overall pick.
“He doesn’t even know yet how good he can be,” draft analyst Mike Mayock said on NFL Network.
One of the first players Njoku heard from after being drafted was Gary Barnidge, welcoming him to the tight end room. Barnidge caught 55 passes in 2016, second only to Terrelle Pryor, but a day later the Browns cut Barnidge with the obvious vision of Njoku taking his place as the starting tight end.
Njoku was rated as the second best tight end in the draft behind O.J. Howard of Alabama. He has a 37.5-inch vertical jump. The knock on him is he supposedly isn’t a good blocker. He begs to differ.
“I think wherever I go, I can definitely bring speed,” Njoku said at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. “I’m willing to block anywhere, attached or detached.”
WHY NJOKU IS RANKED SEVENTH » Browns head coach Hue Jackson loves calling plays for his tight ends. He called them for Tyler Eifert when he was offensive coordinator with the Bengals and he did it last year with Barnidge.
THE BROWNS DID NOT TRADE UP, ALBEIT ONLY FOUR SPOTS, JUST TO HAVE NJOKU PLAY SPECIAL TEAMS. COLLEGE RECAP » Njoku played only two seasons of college football. He started nine times while playing 26 games. After redshirting as a freshman he caught 21 passes for 362 yards and a touchdown in 2015 and last fall caught 43 passes for 698 yards and eight touchdowns.
“HE IS A GIFTED ATHLETE WITH SPEED AND BODY CONTROL,” PRO FOOTBALL WEEKLY CONCLUDED IT ITS SCOUTING REPORT. WHY NJOKU IS IMPORTANT IN 2017 » Njoku showed confidence in minicamp. He ran his routes smoothly and showed he can catch passes off target. The bigger test will come when the pads go on, but Browns tight ends coach Greg Seamon expects great things. “He’s young,” Seamon said. “He’s really developing. He has a great work ethic. I’m excited about his potential.”
Njoku turned 21 on July 10.
PREDICTION FOR 2017 » Njoku will be the Browns offensive rookie of the year and have a bigger impact even than Garrett. A 50-catch season with six touchdowns would not be a surprise.