Ranking every Cleveland Browns first round draft pick since 1999
By Chad Porto
13. TE David Njoku, 2017 – 29th
This will make some fans upset, especially considering some names that haven’t been seen yet. That said, we have to be fair and acknowledge the inconsistency that is David Njoku. Honestly, recency bias may be the reason Njoku is this high, and I’ll fully admit to that. When we redo this list in a few years, it’ll be interesting to see how far he rises or how far he falls.
Njoku has only had two good years in the NFL, missing some time due to behavioral issues and ending up in the dog house on more than one occasion with management. He was under-used as a rookie and had a huge second season thanks to a then-rookie Baker Mayfield.
A third-year was maligned by Freddie Kitchens’ mismanagement and then he was third on the depth chart in 2020 under rookie head coach Kevin Stefanski. He would finally have another good year in 2021, with 475 yards receiving and four touchdowns, while making some highlight catches along the way.
Njoku is far from done in Cleveland and could easily move up this list before his career is all said and done. Until then, however, this is as high as I can justify putting him.