Here's a free recommendation in advance of tomorrow's Index Bets newsletter. David Njoku. Working on the Browns-Bengals previews, I really wish I'd drafted him somewhere.
Maybe because he was hurt a lot of the season, and maybe because it's been hard to take the Browns seriously, I didn't consider him too strongly in leagues. But man, he was really good last season.
There were nine games last season when Njoku was on the field at least half the time (the exceptions were games he either missed or left early due to injury). He was working with the shell of Deshaun Watson and Dorian Thompson-Robinson in some of those games, and Jameis Winston in others. This year he'll open the season, at least, working with Joe Flacco, who's been close to Winston the past few years. And even if the Browns wind up switching quarterbacks at some point this season, Njoku -- based on what he did last year -- will still be producing.
Here are Njoku's numbers in those nine games. Eight times he caught at least 5 passes; five times he caught 7-plus, with 5 touchdowns.
| NJOKU GAME LOG, 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD |
| at Phi. | 7 | 5 | 31 | 0 |
| Cin. | 14 | 10 | 76 | 1 |
| Bal. | 7 | 5 | 61 | 1 |
| LAC | 7 | 5 | 29 | 0 |
| at N.O. | 9 | 9 | 81 | 0 |
| Pit. | 5 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| at Den. | 17 | 9 | 52 | 2 |
| at Pit. | 13 | 7 | 42 | 1 |
| at Cin.` | 10 | 8 | 66 | 0 |
This weekend he'll be working with Flacco, and he'll be facing the Bengals. In a salary cap type league, or anywhere I had him, I would be going with Njoku as a strong option. And betting the over on him.
--Andy Richardson