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#1866734 06/06/21 10:00 AM
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We are all fully aware of the offensive weapons on the team.

Is there a X factor? Someone we may be overlooking.

David Njoku. Hard to believe he was drafted in the first round of 2017. He is only 24.

The reality is. He has not performed as a first pick - Yet.

There has been background noise. He wanted to be traded. Then no. Then 3rd as a TE after the drafting of Harrison Bryant.

There has never been a question of his athletic talent. He can run fast and jump high. However, he has not proven (yet) that he should win any good hands award.

He is now starting his fifth season as a Brown. And, not until this past season has he shown he could block someone.

Can David put it all together?

This could be his year. He has matured. He has learned how to prepare and what he must do. He is a part of a very talented offense. And he may be poised to play to play a bigger role.

Baker is not afraid to throw to him. He knows Njoku is a nightmare matchup for linebackers. I have always felt he should be redzone monster. He is 6'4" and can jump to the rafters.

David has a great opotunity this year to prove to the whole NFL that he can be a premier tight end.

We know all about all are other weapons.

Is David Njoku the X- factor?

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He definitely is not until he proves that he is; and he definitely has not done that, yet.

This is a Make or Break year for him. He either becomes our Travis Kelce - the TE that is reliable to the point of being able to be counted on when the chips are down - or he will be allowed to go in free agency. It will net us a nice compensatory pick and we can replace his typical production quite easily with another Harrison Bryant.

The X-Factor that I expect, is either Hunt or the new kid, Felton or whatever his name is.


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This morning NFL Network had the KC game on.

Njoku played well. He caught some big passes and to my surprise. He blocked well. He had good technique and was effective.

In the past I thought he was the worst blocker I had seen. Just horrible. He got beat so bad it was embarassing.

There are reasons why he was not cut loose. The main reasons are belief in his potential, and improved performance.

Sometimes guys who are amazing athletes take their talent for granted. They believe themselves to be so good that they can just show up. And that their talent will deliver.

That does not work. If you are not commited to improve. You will get beat.

I can not say for certain how David will perform this year.
However, I am sure he now knows how much is on the line. Be that with Cleveland or another team.

I do not think that motivation is needed. He could really put a stamp on his career. Playing a key role with a team that has high expectations.

I hope he delivers.

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Njuku is capable of great things.. Not sure what's stopping him from achieving them.


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Originally Posted By: Damanshot
Njuku is capable of great things.. Not sure what's stopping him from achieving them.



fans expectations

he is growing into his role and becoming a good TE. it just took time


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Yes, but his make up is horrid.


Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.

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We say that every year and he ends up doing a censored word.



Pimp him if you want. For me, I wouldn't care if we cut him.


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He annoys the messoutta me.

We get this mediocre production from him on a regular, but then, he'll make a highlight reel play or have a monster game. And then... back to the same old.

Dude's a tease.
So far.

I hope he can turn the corner this year. This O can be devastating with efficient, effective TE play.


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Originally Posted By: Clemdawg
He annoys the messoutta me.

We get this mediocre production from him on a regular, but then, he'll make a highlight reel play or have a monster game. And then... back to the same old.

Dude's a tease.
So far.

I hope he can turn the corner this year. This O can be devastating with efficient, effective TE play.


The deal is that Hooper has met that criteria. I think one area of weakness in baker is that throwing to the TE seems to be a throw of last resort. When Hooper had Ryan throwing to him, he was catching 80 balls a season and going to pro bowls.

It's hard to rack up devastating numbers if the QB isn't throwing the ball your way except as the 4th option.

Joke is last on my depth chart.

Another point...this is Jokes contract year. I don't like it when a player more or less has sucked, then all of a sudden shows up in the contract year.

Does that mean the light just came on, or does that mean the guy has been free riding for the pervious 3 or 4 years?


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Here is the thing. He improved last year from the year before.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/NjokDa00.htm

In 2018 he had 56 rec. for 639 yards. That is a decent year for TE.

He started last year in the doghouse. Hooper was signed and then they drafted Bryant. Him and his agent saw a deadend.

By the end of the season he was blocking and he made some good plays.

That is why I asked the question. He could become the primary TE. It will not be based just upon receiver production but all around TE play.

The Brown offense is based upon play action. Two TE's is a formation that will have a good percentage of plays. Off that formation the TE must block and be capable of catching the ball.

Hooper and Bryant came in as guys who could block, run good routes, and catch the ball. Njoku has learned to block. Of the three he is the most dangerous receiver.

His career going forward will be based upon this years tape. And that will be based upon being a complete player.

It is on him. He could be the X factor because if he blocks; he is a big target who is a hard guy to cover.

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Bone you picked up on what I said about Njoku the other day didn't you?

Njoku has the best raw skills of our TE's, has the most up side of any of our TE's, and if he can stay on the course he was on last season he can be way more then the X factor. He is capable of being not just the Browns number one TE but one of the top TE's in the NFL. His skill set is off the charts, his head finally seems to be in the right place NOW.

The only other concern when it comes to Njoku is his health and that nobody can do much about.

Will see but Njoku can be the Kelce of the Browns and quite possibly better then Kelce, it truly is on him.


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Because of how diverse the Browns offense is. I doubt that any single player will have monster numbers.

There are only x amount of plays.

Touches and targets are about efficiency. That is what Kevin strives for. Keep them guessing. Run many options off the same looks. But the ball will get spread around. The point is do not allow a defense to center on taking away any single option.

When you put Odell back in the offense. Damn there are so many options. There is no single way to play defense against the Browns. Chubbhunt alone is dynamic because both can run and catch. Our third and fourth receivers can be a
a possession receiver (Higgins). Or, Schwartz can be the vertical bomb. Add TE production and trick plays.

Njoku is that seam guy with length and speed.

For me I have always felt he could not be covered in the red zone because I doubt there is a defender in the league that can jump like him.

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Quote:

The deal is that Hooper has met that criteria. I think one area of weakness in baker is that throwing to the TE seems to be a throw of last resort. When Hooper had Ryan throwing to him, he was catching 80 balls a season and going to pro bowls.


Ryan never had the weapons that Mayfield has..

He had Julio.... and Hooper.. Then what?


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IIRC, he always had at least a decent running game (which became very good when Shanny was there with Freeman).


There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.

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uhhh, there's a Calvin Ridley there, I believe.

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LOL - better than Kelce - sure.

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Originally Posted By: Hammer
uhhh, there's a Calvin Ridley there, I believe.


And Roddy White (at least 1150 yards and at least 7 TDs in five straight seasons with Ryan)


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Hooper is just fine.

In ATL he got more touches because he was the only TE. Their offense ran through their WR's.

In 2019, he had 75 catches for 780+ yards and 6 TD. A 10.5 yd/catch avg.
Pro Football Reference only lists one other TE with catches (Stocker), that I can discern, and he had 8. That means that nothing was spread around there. It was all Hoop, all the time, at the TE position.

In 2020, he had 46 catches for 435 yards and 4 TD. A 9.5 yd/catch avg.
Meanwhile, Njoku had 19 catches (2TD) and Bryant had 24 (3TD).
His rate of TD's per catch went up dramatically while having his touches almost halved because we run a ton of two and three TE looks. It's just a different offense. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with Baker or Ryan.



Kendall Lamm, by the way, had more TD catches than KhaDarel Hodge.


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Agree that Njoku can be the x-factor. He has the most talent and upside of any TE on our roster.

This guy broke down the numbers and rankings for our TEs per PFF in various categories...


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Njoku’s blocking was much improved. He was a pretty good player for us last year.

I don’t expect him to be back here, but I think he’ll be a great asset for us this season


"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
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Interesting. Thanks for posting that.

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Originally Posted By: Milk Man
Agree that Njoku can be the x-factor. He has the most talent and upside of any TE on our roster.

This guy broke down the numbers and rankings for our TEs per PFF in various categories...


Trying to figure out how in the world their overall grade would be so close if Njoku clearly won every category?? Were some categories left out of the above analysis? Weird.


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Thank you for posting that graphic, though... I think it smells a little bit. It's basically saying that Njoku was far and away our best TE but started the year at #3 behind a rookie, and only got playing time ramped up when Bryant got the dropsies and Hooper was injured (appendectomy?). It sounds like there's some cherry-picking going on, at least.

That said, Njoku did noticeably improve by the end of the year. Even I noticed that, and where my limited football knowledge doesn't allow me to notice (pass and runblocking) the #s spoke for themselves. Overall, though... I'm just a little tired of having the same pre-season/TC conversation about Njoku ("this is totally going to be the year he breaks through").


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I guess my eyes don't lie after all. thumbsup


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Originally Posted By: bonefish

Because of how diverse the Browns offense is. I doubt that any single player will have monster numbers.

There are only x amount of plays.

Touches and targets are about efficiency. That is what Kevin strives for. Keep them guessing. Run many options off the same looks. But the ball will get spread around. The point is do not allow a defense to center on taking away any single option.

When you put Odell back in the offense. Damn there are so many options. There is no single way to play defense against the Browns. Chubbhunt alone is dynamic because both can run and catch. Our third and fourth receivers can be a
a possession receiver (Higgins). Or, Schwartz can be the vertical bomb. Add TE production and trick plays.

Njoku is that seam guy with length and speed.

For me I have always felt he could not be covered in the red zone because I doubt there is a defender in the league that can jump like him.



In my humble opinion, this is the post that most echoes how I see this team.

CLE's O has been built to succeed no mater what D it faces. A team with a smothering secondary is going to get a faceful of Chubb & Hunt to soften them up. A D that specializes in stopping the run have a ton of worries facing this team's aerial package.

I think we're going to see less-than gaudy numbers from our pass catchers, but tons of fireworks on the field. And that is by design. With so many weapons, it's a safe bet that all of our guys will get smaller numbers than they would get playing for a less stacked NFL team.

Balance will be the identity of CLE going forward. We can toss it; we can grind it. We can game plan from a position of advantage, because we have elite talent at all impact positions. CLE is uniquely poised to become the NFL's universal "Oh, s#!" entry on the season's schedule.

I think the most conventional 'big numbers' will come from Chubb (>1k) and Baker (too many targets to not set records). The rest are perennially hungry Big Dawgs routinely fed by the Stefanski scheme.


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Originally Posted By: Damanshot
Quote:

The deal is that Hooper has met that criteria. I think one area of weakness in baker is that throwing to the TE seems to be a throw of last resort. When Hooper had Ryan throwing to him, he was catching 80 balls a season and going to pro bowls.


Ryan never had the weapons that Mayfield has..

He had Julio.... and Hooper.. Then what?



I see that others answered the "who else" question you had. That is easily found by checking the team roster. It's not hard and doesn't take very long.

And in the end, it doesn't matter. The fact remains he was a pro bowl TE a few times before he came to Cleveland. Feed him the ball and he will produce. That is all one needs to know.


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don't forget all the young offensive players pretty much had a new play book every season this is the first season that they will continue with the same offense. Its amazing when you think about it.

Njoku poses a good One on One in the Red zone especially in the end zone.

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Or Jerry Rice.

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But that was obvious 6 months after they drafted him, but nobody wants to talk like it for all this time.


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Is there an X Factor someone we may be overlooking?

I think, Connor Davis TE.


Can Deshaun Watson play better for the Browns, than Baker Mayfield would have? ... Now the Games count.
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When was the last time we saw anything like this? Bake's basically got the entire WR core down there putting in work.

Baker's just built different and has that leadership and moxie to get us to the SuperBowl


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This may seem insignificant but I like it.

It is a sign of commitment by them all. The work helps but the unity of purpose is even more important.


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With another abbreviated preseason, this extra time together could have them firing on all cylinders coming INTO camp. Imagine them being in mid season form for game #1 or #3...

Between the combination of moneyball management, the players all buying in and wanting to be here to win, and the teams leadership at the player level, it seems like we are witnessing the perfect storm forming... I just hope it leads to a superbowl and not yet another letdown.

Last edited by OldColdDawg; 06/09/21 08:46 PM.

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That is all of our TE's and all of the primary WR's.

You don't see this unless they're all All In.
And, to note: OBJ is working out.


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I like the fact the main players are in their own group.

For them it is less about learning systems like some of the younger guys. It's about learning timing and trust. It's about learning the non verbal signals between QB and receiver. Those guys are getting in more valuable work in half the time then if they were in Berea alternating reps.

Having coaches around is valuable for some of the guys, but for these guys they don't need that for what they are doing out in Texas.


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At the risk of sounding like a wet blanket, I'd love to hear their explanation as to why Austin, TX but not Berea, OH for workouts. Regardless, them working out together gets a big thumbs up from me.


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I really wanted Njoku when we drafted him. REALLY wanted him. He's a beast, but started out, as we all know, fairly rocky. He's shown improvement, and with another year under the system and with another year of maturity, (as you mentioned he's only 24) we may see him finally develop into the weapon we've (I've) been hoping for. One of the biggest thinks he has going for him is the work ethic and attitudes of those around him, so this may be his year.

However, my X-factor pick is Anthony Schwartz. I wish he could be down there in Texas building chemistry with Baker & Co., but we'll have to wait for camp for that, I guess. He, IMO, can become the forgotten man on the field, saddled with a CB that has absolutely no chance of covering him. I'm looking for some loooong TDs from him, some spectacular plays, and some big chunk plays. The kid has X-factor written all over him if he develops the way we're hoping.


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Everytime Schwartz is mentioned by staff. He is always described as very intelligent.

He may take a year though to really get his feet wet in a NFL system.

I could see some packages set up for him but I don't see many reps this year. They may use him on some Jet sweeps and flea flickers. Along with some deep verticals.

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Posted this with my last post in camp surprise thread. Moving that part over here.

2 people that I would LOVE to see become X-factors that I haven't seen mentioned on here are OBJ and Hunt. OBJ getting yards/TDs that put him back in his proper place among the elite WRs would be a huge boost to an already potent offense. I think Mayfield's progress/comfort within the offense makes this development possible.
Hunt, IMO, was slightly underutilized down the stretch last season. He doesn't pose a major dropoff in running talent to Chubb (he has a rushing title, after all) and brings his own unique "flavor" to running the ball. I really felt for him in the KC game... he got VERY few rushing attempts and you could see he was juiced to play against his old team. I know there are only so many snaps on offense and we have a lot of mouths to feed, but a two-headed monster of Chubb and Hunt in an offense that is greatly based on showing you one look and then giving you something else has simply too much potential to ignore.


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Originally Posted By: oobernoober
At the risk of sounding like a wet blanket, I'd love to hear their explanation as to why Austin, TX but not Berea, OH for workouts. Regardless, them working out together gets a big thumbs up from me.


An understated benefit of them being off on their own away from Berea is that they aren't taking any time or reps away from the other guys that are there.

Every last guy that is in Austin has his roster spot locked up.
Every last one of them was here last year and knows the system and is more at the point of working on nuance than the basics.


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