Tag: David Njoku fantasy football

Will a change of scenery help Jerry Jeudy’s fantasy prospects?

Does this former Bronco have a shot at living up to his potential in Cleveland?

Few fantasy players are more polarizing than Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. The 15th overall pick in the 2020 draft, expectations were high that Jeudy’s college success at Alabama would translate to the Broncos offense. Unfortunately for him (and those who drafted him) it hasn’t worked out that way.

In four seasons with the Broncos he never had a 1,000-yard season and finished three seasons with fewer than 55 receptions and three or fewer touchdowns. Those numbers are what you would expect from a No. 3 receiver in an NFL offense, not a WR1. The closest he ever came to putting up numbers worthy of being in weekly lineup consideration was in 2022 when he caught 67 passes for 972 yards and six touchdowns.

Denver’s disenchantment with Jeudy’s lack of high-end production ended this spring when the Broncos traded him to the Browns for a pair of late-round draft picks. Reviews on the trade are mixed. While he hasn’t proved he can be a star receiver in the NFL, Cleveland gave him a three-year, $58 million extension following the trade.

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Jeudy comes to an offense loaded with skill position talent with running backs Nick Chubb (knee) and Jerome Ford, wide receivers Amari Cooper and Elijah Moore and tight end David Njoku. That represents a lot of competition for passes and the biggest issue surrounds the wheelman of the offense, quarterback Deshaun Watson.

One of the most electrifying quarterbacks in the league when he was in Houston, Watson missed all of the 2021 season with legal issues and hasn’t lived up to his massive contract with the Browns (five years, $230 million fully guaranteed). In two seasons in Cleveland, Watson has played in just 12 games, averaging 185 passing yards with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions. When evaluating any receiver, his quarterback has to factor into the equation, and there are many more questions than answers with Watson heading into Year 3 of his Cleveland deal.

Fantasy football outlook

Too many red flags pop up in the marriage between Jeudy and the Browns. Jeudy has been a career disappointment, and he’s coming into an offense that boasts considerable competition for targets. The biggest concern is building a rapport with Watson, which won’t come as easily as it might seem.

In November, Watson had surgery to repair a fractured right shoulder socket, which can be a career-ending injury for a quarterback. The Browns coaching and medical staffs are going to take their time bringing Watson back, which hurts Jeudy more than the other receivers that Watson has already worked with and developed timing. Getting meaningful reps between a quarterback and receivers is critical to success, and Jeudy isn’t going to get enough of that until the regular season begins, which should drop his value markedly.

At best, Jeudy is a WR5 in a 12-manager league because of the questions surrounding his arrival to Cleveland. Anywhere before No. 5 is taking too big a gamble. However, at WR5 the risk is minimized and if he washes out there wasn’t a significant investment made. Judy has been a disappointment thus far in his career, but he still has the talent to turn things around. By the time WR5 types are coming off the board, the potential reward will finally meet up with the risk.

5 tight ends to consider if you miss out on the top guys

Several value buys at the tight end position to target on draft day.

For those who play in tight end-mandatory leagues, there is a clear sense of demarcation among the top fantasy football tight ends. Once Travis Kelce goes, it starts the clock when the other top tight ends come off the board. George Kittle, Mark Andrews and T.J. Hockenson make up the second tier. Not far behind are Dallas Goedert, Darren Waller and Kyle Pitts as the third tier.

Clearly, not every fantasy team is going to make the investment to land one of these players. For those fantasy teams, owners can hold off filling this roster need for a long time and still get value. Here are five tight ends to keep in mind if you don’t get one of the top guys.

Fantasy Football Market Report: Week 5

The most important risers and fallers in fantasy football.

One of the aspects of fantasy football that never fails to amaze me is when fantasy owners don’t take into account bye weeks. Week 5 will be the last time in a long time that every player on most rosters will be available.

Injuries do their part to gut fantasy rosters, so players who had no draft-day intention of being in the starting lineup are there more weeks than not. Bye weeks are a meaningless gutting – those guys are healthy, just not playing.

There will be eight weeks in which at least two and as many as six teams will be on bye. If you’re a seasoned fantasy player, you probably paid attention to the bye weeks as you were assembling a draft/auction roster, but a lot has happened since then.

A week from now it will dawn on some casual players that the bye weeks have started. You can be ahead of that curve and prepare for it now. If you see a week that will be rough, make a trade to diversify your roster. There will be someone in your league who effectively forfeits a week because too many key players are on their bye. Don’t let that be you.

Here is the Week 5 Fantasy Football Market Report:

5 late-round fantasy football tight end fliers

These tight ends could bolster fantasy rosters with little investment needed.

Injuries happen. It’s just the nature of the NFL, and the fallout has ruined many a fantasy season over the years. After all, there’s nothing quite like the sting of losing your first-round pick a month into the season. That’s the game, however, and it’s why finding good depth at the end of drafts is so vital. With that in mind, here are five tight ends to consider in the later rounds.

The 5 best late-round tight end fliers in fantasy football

Take a chance on these late-round tight end picks.

This year, like in recent offseasons, the tight end position is rather deep for fantasy football prospects. It’s also once again top-heavy, featuring six reliable No. 1 targets before a notable decline in relative safety. Once those names are off the board, gamers have to decide whether to invest in a starter from the next tier of players or wait even longer to chance it on someone assigned to the backup grouping.

In some cases, drafting a No. 2 tight end isn’t a worthwhile venture, though having a reserve is a must if your starter is injury-prone, generally risky, or among the matchup-based tier. These five tight ends are the best places to turn for taking a late-round gamble on a player defying the odds and ascending to the realm of borderline TE1 territory.

Is 2022 the year David Njoku finally lives up to his potential?

New quarterbacks and less proven competition await David Njoku.

As we revisit the Cleveland Browns’ passing game, having discussed their receiving corps last month, we must once again open with the status of quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was subjected to a three-day disciplinary hearing in late June with post-hearing briefs due on July 12. With training camp now just over a week away, we should expect to learn the length of Watson’s suspension at any point. Speculation has the QB’s suspension ranging anywhere from a few games to a full season, but until we get official word it’s meaningless chatter.

With Baker Mayfield now a member of the Carolina Panthers, veteran Jacoby Brissett stands ready to make however many starts are needed to cover Watson’s suspension. The journeyman has started 37 games in his career across three franchises, compiling a 14-23 record and a 36-to-17 TD:INT ratio in that time. Brissett is as prototypical a game manager as you’re like to find on an NFL roster — he averaged 218 yards and a touchdown per game in five starts with the Miami Dolphins last year. Cleveland also will look to add another veteran passer should Watson miss time.

Although clearly the Browns’ passing attack would be much more potent with Watson at the helm, the strength of their running game should keep defenses from focusing on the pass. To that end, we saw Case Keenum (now with the Buffalo Bills) go 2-0 in his two starts for Cleveland while throwing for 375 yards and three TDs in a role like what Brissett would fill. Those are modest numbers, but outside of wide receiver Amari Cooper there aren’t a lot of proven targets, so the tight ends should see action.

Worth the risk? The Deshaun Watson outlook

Disciplinary uncertainty creates more questions than answers.

One of the ongoing questions heading into the “slow period” of the NFL – between OTAs and the start of training camps in late July – is the ongoing saga of Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has made headlines off the field for the last 14 months.

Watson sat out the entire 2021 season, which was supposed to be the first year of four-year, $160 million extension he signed with the Houston Texans. An avalanche of civil lawsuits brought against him – most by massage therapists – claiming sexual assault or misconduct. A 23rd woman joined the lawsuit against Watson at the end of May, and No. 24 is reportedly expected to file come Monday.

However, when two grand juries failed to bring back a criminal indictment, the Texans saw an opportunity to trade their besieged signal-caller, and the Browns jumped at the opportunity to acquire a franchise quarterback better than Baker Mayfield.

Houston landed three first-round picks, a third-rounder in 2023, and a fourth-rounder in 2024 in exchange for Watson. If that investment by the Browns wasn’t enough, the team immediately announced that it tore up Watson’s contract with the Texans and replaced it with a five-year, $230 million deal with every dollar guaranteed.

Both sides of this strange, unsettling saga are unprecedented. On the football side of things, fully guaranteeing contracts has rarely been something NFL franchise do willingly. Nobody has ever committed this much in terms of guaranteed money – Watson’s guarantee was $80 million more than the previous high (Buffalo QB Josh Allen). It’s a field-tilter for quarterback salaries and guarantees that could set a standard many owners will look to avoid.

The other precedent-setting issue facing the NFL is the length of Watson’s anticipated suspension. Despite sitting out all of last season, Watson not subject to league discipline. Comparisons have been made to a 2010 suspension of Ben Roethlisberger, accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old Georgia college student at a nightclub. What made his six-game suspension (reduced to four games after Roethlisberger complied with numerous league-imposed stipulations) is that there were no criminal charges filed against him. Prior to that, the league waited until the legal process was completed before handing out its own punishment. Since Roethlisberger’s case, the NFL has suspended numerous players without criminal charges being filed.

What makes this case new to the NFL is Watson having been accused by 24 different women who make the same basic claim – just to varying degrees of misconduct. The NFL’s enforcement arm has a difficult decision to make after its own independent investigation. The league is still struggling with accusations of collusion against Colin Kaepernick and the offseason revelations in a lawsuit brought by Brian Flores.

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What sort of punishment do claims made by 24 different women warrant? Major League Baseball, typically the last pro sport to be proactive, recently doubled the established suspension limit of major sports by banning Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer for more than two years for allegations of sexual impropriety that also didn’t result in criminal charges.

The Browns have been taken off a lot of betting websites for wagers on the odds for Cleveland to win the AFC North, the AFC, and the Super Bowl, because everyone is waiting for the NFL to weigh on whether Watson will be suspended. It is expected that he will be, but the duration is anyone’s guess.

The suspension likely won’t be less than four games. Is six a possibility? Eight? Another full season?

All of those options are likely on the table. The uncertainty may be the reason the Browns didn’t accept a low-ball trade offer for Mayfield on draft weekend. Mayfield clearly isn’t Cleveland’s first choice – that was made painfully obvious – but he is the guy who has been the starter in Cleveland the last three years. Perhaps the fear of getting the worst-case scenario suspension for Watson is why Mayfield is still under contract with the Browns. Cleveland added veteran journeyman Jacoby Brissett in free agency a day after the Watson trade news broke, likely believing Mayfield wouldn’t be this difficult to trade away.

Fantasy football outlook

Watson’s fantasy football value for 2022 will be determined once the NFL weighs in on the matter and hands down its punishment.

Whatever the NFL decides, it is certain to face criticism for not handing down a stiff enough punishment given the gravity and sheer volume of the allegations. Until the league office delivers its judgment, the fate of the 2022 Browns will continue to remain in limbo.

Should Watson even be on your radar if you’re forced to draft prior to whenever that info is known? It depends upon a number of factors, such as scoring rules, league size, draft tendencies, and more, but the easiest way to frame it is as follows: Gamble on Watson only after about Round 11, and only if you have an established starter in case he winds up missing serious time. He has gone, on average, anywhere from Round 9 to 14 in drafts we’ve been apart of so far.

We’ll definitely provide more clarity upon the league’s ruling. What we know for sure is Watson enters a run-heavy offense with a so-so cast of aerial targets. He has excelled with worse at receiver, but there’s arguably more downside than potential for a strong season, regardless of how much time he may miss.