Njoku’s NFL draft stock rising
Hurricanes tight end seen as a likely first-round selection.
Before the 2016 season, Brad Kaaya was widely projected as a first-round pick.
A s t h e N F L C o m b i n e approaches, David Njoku is the Hurricanes player the draftniks are discussing.
While Kaaya’s stock has slipped, Njoku’s is climbing. The 6-foot-4, 245-pound tight end was rated as high as No. 13 overall by one analyst, ESPN’s Todd McShay. NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said he has “the highest upside of any tight end in the draft,” and projected him 18th overall to the Tennessee Titans.
In a conference call Thursday, ESPN’s Mel Kiper said he thinks the Dolphins, in need of a tight end, should take Njoku with their second-round pick.
The problem: he’s not sure Njoku will last that long.
“A good college player who has the potential to develop into a better pro,” McShay wrote in his latest piece, calling Njoku “loaded with tal- ent. He averaged 16.2 yards per reception and caught a TD once in every 5.4 receptions. He could be the first tight end off the board. At the very least, he’s a clearcut first-rounder from a tal- ent perspective.”
Kaaya isn’t projected to go that high. McShay rates him as the fourth-best available quarterback, as does CBS Sports.
Kaaya said on WQAM’s Hurricane Hotline last week that he felt comfortable leaving school after his junior season because he received feedback, through associates in contact with NFL coaches, that he would be drafted.
“I just wanted a draft-able grade. It wasn’t so much of getting a guaranteed topfive pick or guaranteed first round,” Kaaya said. “I had grades anywhere between Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, even Round 5 — but just to have a draft-able grade anywhere in the first few rounds of the draft.”
In declaring for the draft after the Russell Athletic Bowl, Njoku said he understood his draft stock as “top two rounds.”