The Cleveland Browns have first-round picks at the quarterback and tight end positions. While they’ve used several first-round picks on quarterbacks over the past decade or so, it took a massive trade to land the one they finally believe can take them to the next level in Deshaun Watson. And veteran tight end David Njoku believes he can help Watson get the Browns there.
Indeed, he has some lofty ambitions for himself and his quarterback—to his credit, to be clear. Aspiring to be the best, he recently talked about using the Kansas City Chiefs’ duo, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, as fuel, as well as a goal.
“I would hope that most, if not all, tight ends and quarterbacks aspire to be up to that stature”, Chris Easterling quoted him as saying for the Akron Beacon Journal, “because they are just for years now, consistency, rolling, you know what I mean? So they are amazing. And we try to be the best we can be, especially together”.
Let’s just say it won’t be easy to get to that level. Kelce has been putting up wide receiver-like numbers at the tight end position since before Mahomes was even in the NFL, working on seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. In five seasons with Mahomes as his quarterback, he’s caught 507 passes for 6,444 yards and 47 touchdowns. He had career highs with 110 receptions and 12 receiving touchdowns in 2022 at age 33.
As for Mahomes, he has thrown for just under 24,000 yards in the past five years with 192 touchdown passes to 48 interceptions, so one imagines he’s doing something right. Enough to win a couple of Super Bowls—something neither Watson nor Njoku have come close to doing.
While injuries have been a limiting variable throughout most of his career, Njoku has only put up at least 500 yards twice in his six-year career, with a high of 639. His 68 receptions and four touchdowns in 2022 broke or matched career bests.
Watson has put up some numbers over the course of his career, mostly with the Houston Texans, but he’s never had a strong connection with a tight end before. The best season a tight end has had playing with him was Jordan Akins, who caught 36 passes for 418 yards and two touchdowns in 2019.
That’s a far cry from Mahomes and Kelce territory, and it seems rather late in the game for either to take a significant turn in that direction, but as I said, if you’re going to have goals, they might as well be lofty ones.
