David

Njoku

He has shrunk into a smaller role while the Browns have emphasized Harold Fannin Jr. down the stretch, so Njoku playing through this knee ailment is commendable but not exactly fantasy-notable. He’s been listed on the injury report with the knee injury in each of the last three weeks.

Njoku continues to play through his knee injury as rookie TE Harold Fannin Jr.'s fantasy-unfriendly backup. Njoku does not need to be rostered in re-draft formats, though he technically could be considered one of the rare tight end stash options.

Njoku played through the knee issue last week and should be able to do so again in Week 14. He has been fully supplanted by Harold Fannin Jr. as the team’s starting tight end. Njoku hasn’t gone for more than 37 yards in a game since Week 5. He is barely on the TE2 radar for his upcoming matchup with the Titans.

Harold Fannin, meanwhile, ran 29 routes and caught a touchdown on a team-leading five targets from Shedeur Sanders. Njoku doesn’t have more than two targets in any of the Browns’ past four games. With Njoku likely headed out of Cleveland one way or another this offseason, the Browns are clearly getting an extended look at Fannin (and the rest of the team’s young players) down the stretch of the regular season. Njoku shouldn’t be started in any fantasy format next week against the Titans.

Fannin led the Browns in targets as Shedeur Sanders threw a mere 25 passes on the day. His touchdown came on a wide-open downfield throw from Sanders; Fannin barreled through two 49ers defenders for the only Browns score of the day. He also had a critical lost fumble on a failed tush push in the middle of the third quarter with the Browns driving deep into San Francisco territory. Fannin ran a route on every Cleveland drop back. Meanwhile, David Njoku logged just 11 routes and caught both of his targets for four yards. Fannin will be a top-15 tight end next week against the Titans.

Njoku played through the injury last week, but earned zero targets. Rookie TE Harold Fannin Jr., meanwhile, earned six. Njoku is just a boom-bust TE2 at this point. The 49ers have allowed 637 receiving yards to opposing tight ends, the 11th-most in the NFL, which makes the veteran tight end mildly appealing. Start-sit decisions can be broken against him though.

Njoku dealt with the knee issue last week, but played through it to the tune of zero targets in essentially a part-time role in Week 12. Also limited among the offensive skill players were RB Jerome Ford (hamstring) and WR Jamari Thrash (foot). None of these three are crucial producers for the Browns at the moment. Njoku’s absence would give more opportunities for Harold Fannin, though he is still trending to play Week 13 against the 49ers.

Njoku has been playing a part-time role for over a month. He still ran a route on just over half of Shedeur Sanders’ dropbacks in this game but failed to draw even one target. He is purely a backup tight end at this point. Fantasy managers can send him to waivers next week.

Back-to-back DNPs would have put most players in a dicey situation to play, but the Browns trust their veteran tight end. His return will cut into Harold Fannin’s usage and keep both players off the high-TE2 borderline in a game where we’re expecting Shedeur Sanders to struggle against the Raiders.

Njoku is enough of a veteran to come off back-to-back DNPs and hit the questionable line on Friday, but this puts him in actual doubt of missing Week 12’s game against the Raiders. If Njoku missed the game, Harold Fannin could consolidate the TE targets for Cleveland and, in theory, have a volume TE1 case. It’s a flimsy case with Shedeur Sanders back there, but it exists.