Cleveland Browns: No reason to be concerned about David Njoku’s injury
By Ryan Rosko
The Cleveland Browns’ complete 2017 draft class won’t be on display on Thursday night.
The Cleveland Browns added three players in the first round of the 2017 draft back in April. Of those three, only defensive lineman Myles Garrett and safety Jabrill Peppers will be in uniform.
The lone player missing from that group is tight end David Njoku.
On Wednesday, head coach Hue Jackson discussed on Browns Radio that due to Njoku’s back injury, he won’t play versus the New Orleans Saints.
#Browns HC Hue Jackson said on his show on @BrownsRadio rookie TE David Njoku (back) won't play in Thursday's preseason opener.
— Nate Ulrich (@ByNateUlrich) August 9, 2017
As nice as it would have been to see Njoku out there, Jackson’s decision was the right on. Wait, he was a first rounder. He should be out there right? Nope, why risk further injuring himself?
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There is no reason to worry about Njoku’s back. He didn’t have an issue that limited his playing time in college at Miami (FL). If that was different, then I would be a little concerned.
It was not guarantee that Njoku would have played an extensive amount of time anyways. If you look around the NFL (and watch the Browns/Saints game), there will be a number of rookies playing an amount of time one may not expect. In addition, there will be veterans who may or may not start or even play at all.
Besides, now that veteran tight end Gary Barnidge is no longer on the roster, waiting and resting up needs to be the preference. Njoku is going to be TE1 in Cleveland.
No, Seth DeValve is not going to win that position battle — if you can even call it that. The Browns drafted him on day one of the draft for many reasons. When he gets back to being healthy, the former Hurricane is not going to delegated TE2 responsibilities for long.
Sure, Njoku still has to officially win the starting gig, but come on, the writing is on the wall. It is just a matter of time. DeValve has improved so far in camp, but that is all that it is. Remember, DeValve is a TE in Cleveland, but he may be better suited for a hybrid role instead.
There simply is not enough talent at the position. Regardless, even if there was, it would be highly unlikely that talent would be viewed as a better option than Njoku both in the short and long-term.
Njoku can and will get reps early and as he gets more comfortable getting past the growing pains as a rookie, watch out!
If Njoku were to miss the second Browns preseason game, then yes, I would be concerned. I don’t envision that happening though. For the time being, enjoy watching some of the rookies.
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Expect to see the next (Carolina Panthers’) Greg Olsen once Njoku puts it all together. The wait will be worth it when we all see him on the field in a live game.