Joshua Gunter cleveland.com

Browns tight end David Njoku looks for running room against the Kansas City Chiefs in the second half Sunday.

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The Browns' offense has been as inconsistent as expected for a group playing upwards of five rookies on any given Sunday.

The young group has had its share of both frustrations and flashes of potential - often happening on a play-to-play basis. The talent is there -- even the brightest analysts believe that. The question becomes, are those responsible for the talent maximizing it?

One of the brightest young skill-position talents the Browns have is David Njoku. The tight end pulled in 36 catches for 386 yards and four touchdowns in his 21-year-old rookie campaign. The feat of crossing 30 receptions for 300 yards at that age is something only the best tight ends in NFL history have accomplished: Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski and Jason Witten.

As a rookie, Njoku showed in a limited role how effective he can be, but he battled inconsistency and it has carried into his second year. Tight end is one of the league's toughest positions for smooth transitions from college football. The blocking is demanding, the coverage becomes tighter, and the concepts become more challenging.

Now nine games into Njoku's second season, are the Browns using their young weapon correctly? Let's break it down:

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USING POSITIONING TO GET HIM OPEN

Despite the name, the tight end can line up all over an offense. He can align next to the tackle, in a wing, in the backfield, in the slot, or even split wide. Njoku can play all over the field, and he will typically take snaps in three of those locations in a game, and sometimes four.

Njoku does a good majority of his work on the line in a three-point stance, but he has always seemed most comfortable in the wing, slot or split wide. Let's take a look at some examples.

Split End

Your split end, or "X," is usually your on-the-ball receiver who aligns furthest outside and opposite the strength call of the formation. For example is a formation is called "Trips Right" with three receivers to the right, the "X" receiver would align opposite that strength call, to the left, on the ball outside. Njoku did this several times in 2017, and occasionally so far in 2018.

Njoku has found some comfort aligning at "X" despite limited opportunities. He has only played 68 career snaps at an outside alignment. He would be best served getting more chances outside, especially given the Browns' lack of talent at the receiver position this season.

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In Week 11 last season against Jacksonville Njoku aligns at "X" and runs a fade route. The back-shoulder adjustment to the DeShone Kizer ball is excellent given the tight coverage from All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey. Njoku has shown the body control to make these plays.

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Njoku has also shown he can drive on downfield routes toward the middle of the field. Here in Week 13 of 2017, Njoku runs what is called a "glance." He drives from 8 to 18 yards on a skinny post and Kizer finds him before the rotating safety can become a factor. On this route for a touchdown, he shows the speed and finishing power that the game's best tight ends possess.

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Fast forward to just a few weeks ago in Week 6 as the Browns hosted the Chargers. Njoku is again split at "X" and is tasked with the goal-line fade. Baker Mayfield throws him a high-point ball, and Njoku is able to reach over the defender face guarding him to reel this touchdown in. This is no small feat, and the ability to work through your defender to high-point the football and keep it away is what can make Njoku a dangerous red-zone target.

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"Nub" Tight End

Where Njoku has also found success is in a similar position to "X" but in his more traditional inline tight end role. When Njoku is in his three-point stance on the formation's backside, he has often found success. Let's take a look at a few.

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Njoku first showed his potential in this alignment as a rookie at Baltimore. When aligned as the backside tight end away from the receiving group, often it leads to one-on-one matchups with safeties or linebackers. Njoku doesn't get that here, but he is able to work his out-and-up against a Cover-2 look and make a nice lunging catch away from coverage. Njoku has no issue high-pointing footballs above his head.

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Here in Week 7 at Tampa Bay the Browns go to this concept again. This time Njoku works a simple fade after he is matched on Tampa Bay safety Isaiah Johnson (No. 39). When Njoku is able to work free downfield and high-point a football, he becomes a dangerous weapon with his length and physicality.

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USING ROUTES TO GET HIM OPEN

Njoku runs a limited route tree. He specifically runs routes that involve straight lines (seam, rail, fade), and one-cut (dig, corner, slant, post). He excels in the body control and high-point aspects of the position. If he is asked to make multiple cuts, it's usually doesn't end well for Njoku. The Browns have used him on a few specific routes where he excels. Let's take a look at which ones they should highlight.

Corner Route

Njoku excels at the corner route because it gives him a chance to use his long strides and body shielding to keep defensive backs away from the football. When he is able to use a two-way-go down the seam, he is difficult for defensive backs to cover as he sets these routes up well.

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In Njoku's rookie season, this was his highlight play. It flashed all of his potential in one single rep. You will see him working against the Jets' young safety Jamal Adams (No. 33). He vertically stems him to put pressure on the coverage. Once he's impacted by Adams, he uses the outside arm to drive off Adams' collision and create the necessary leverage for Kevin Hogan to throw him to the pylon. What makes it a highlight play is his ability to use one hand to go get the football and find the end zone.

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Now, flash forward to 2018. This Sunday we saw Njoku run a similar concept, but the route has advanced for him. You will see him sharper in selling the post first, before he heads back to the corner. This is commonly called a post-corner, and Njoku has found his rhythm with it. The post sells the play-side safety inside and opens up the separation on the corner cut. Mayfield just overshoots him here.

Seam or Bender Route

The seam can be a great route for tight ends as it puts them against safeties who they normally have body positioning luxuries and size advantages. Njoku excels pushing vertically down the hash marks, and he has a knack for finding windows for his quarterbacks.

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The seam was a favorite play call under Hue Jackson. He pushed Njoku down the seam often, and it turned in some quality results. If he finds himself running against linebackers, it's a battle Njoku often wins. Here against the Chargers in 2017, he pushes up the seam against the Chargers' Cover-4 variation. He gets behind the nickel back, and DeShone Kizer drops this one to him perfectly for a chunk play.

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During Mayfield's first NFL drive, the Browns dialed up a seam for Njoku. You can see his progression here in his sophomore season. He works the seam, which morphs into a "bender" (a name given to the seam for when you bend the route between the second- and third-level defenders). Njoku throttles this one down in the window as Mayfield's throw stops him in the hole between the linebacker and safety. The body control was excellent to go down and get this ball.

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When Njoku controls the middle of the field, it makes the Browns offense better. A great way to get him there is by selling the quick screen by making his first steps pursue the block, then releasing him on the bender between the second and third levels as we see here against Tampa Bay. His first five steps sell the screen before bending between.

He is comfortable running these seams and bender routes to find those windows for his quarterback. They come naturally to him.

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USING SCHEME TO GET HIM OPEN

You will hear those who study the NFL talk about offensive coordinators "scheming people open." This concept means using your schemes to force the defense into a predictable choice that results in an easy opening for a specific player.

The Browns have not done enough of this in 2018. They introduced and flirted with the RPO (run/pass option) some with Todd Haley, but not nearly enough. Njoku can be excellent when asked to run a route within the concept. Let's take a look.

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In Week 3, we saw Haley go to this scheme for Mayfield. Njoku will simply run vertical off the snap, but he knows if the invert defender, Brandon Copeland (No. 51), commits to the run, he will be the answer off the ball fake. Copeland rushes and Mayfield feels the read. He rips it quickly to Njoku up the seam for 20 easy yards.

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In Week 6 against the Chargers, they used it again. Mayfield will be responsible for reading Jahleel Addae (No. 37) to see if he commits to playing the run of drops into Njoku's slant window from his "X" alignment. Addae sits on the run, and it opens up a perfect window for Mayfield to hit Njoku for an easy 14 yards. The Browns have to use this combination more often and within the RPO schematic advantage.

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NJOKU'S RUN BLOCKING

There is no way around it: Njoku will have to continue to fight for consistency in his blocking.

NFL tight ends, on the whole, struggle to run block, as they often are asked to block bigger athletes. This causes issues at the point of attack. It is the single hardest part of the game for a young tight end. Njoku was no different. What we want to see is continued improvement.

We saw that in 2017.

Njoku struggled in weeks 1 through 8 when asked to run block. According to Pro Football Focus, he graded 72nd out of 87 TEs. Then in weeks 9 through 16, he finished eighth out of 71 tight ends. For the full season, his run block grade was 60.2, which equaled out to 38th out of 78 qualifying TEs with at least 50 run-blocking snaps. So far in 2018, Njoku is grading out at 62.3 which is 27th out of 65 qualifying TEs.

It was the kind of improvement we wanted to see. In the second half of his rookie season Njoku spent more time in the wing position, pulling and reaching from a 2-point stance and that has carried over into 2018.

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The Browns ran split zone here in Cincinnati and Njoku does his job. He is tasked with occupying and kicking out the backside end in this concept. Notice Njoku pull down the line and kick out Cincinnati's Jordan Willis (No. 75) to open the path for Duke Johnson's cut-back lane. This is the sort of improvement that kick started the Browns' run game.

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Njoku also found comfort in the outside zone concept as well. Here against the Chargers Njoku works to seal the edge, then slide off late to push the EMLOS (end man on the line of scrimmage) up-field to open a running lane. Njoku's awareness improved immensely and has carried over into his 2018 season.

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NJOKU'S PASS BLOCKING

This is the area where we have seen Njoku struggle the most, in responsibility, awareness and footwork. We have seen multiple times now where he blatantly misses an assignment that leads to a big hit on his quarterback.

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Against in Detroit in 2017, he completely misses the nickel blitz to his left. With his back set to the opposite side, he has to secure any kind of pressure off the edge. He just fails to see the blitz here.

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Flash forward to last Sunday and we see the awareness problem rear itself again. The Chiefs bring their safety off the edge, and Njoku again misses the responsibility with the back set opposite.

We can't be absolutely certain this is his man, but his reaction and logical pass protection schemes call for the extra man on the line of scrimmage to handle any extra edge pressure and help on the defensive end if no other threats appear.

This sack ended a quality Browns drive early in the game.

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Here is how the Browns need to use Njoku in the passing game moving forward.

The tight end is best fit to do what is called "chip and release" before he heads out on his route. Instead of trusting the young tight end to do something he has never been good at, get him out on routes that can help the offense.

If you need pass protection help, which the Browns' current tackles can always use, chip the defensive end like we see here to slow down the pass rush.

This is the best of both worlds for the offense and its protection. It doesn't need to be any harder than it already is.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

The question of boom or bust continues to come up with Njoku. Each week he does plenty of things well, but the problem is the young tight end has a propensity to make mistakes in the worst moments. When those mistakes happen, more and more fans form opinions of the tight end that simply aren't true.

Njoku has struggled with drops since entering the league. It doesn't take a trained eye to notice them. He had six drops in 60 targets in 2017, and he has five drops in 57 targets so far in 2018.

The consistent pattern is where the drops occur based on the ball's arrival point on his body:

Anything at or below Njoku's waist, he typically struggles with. Four of his five drops in 2018 have been in this area. He flourishes on balls thrown to the higher parts of his catch radius. He doesn't have a full catch radius that is effective top to bottom, but if you get it higher on his body, he usually comes down with it.

Despite the drops, through nine games Njoku has nearly matched his entire rookie season output. He already has more receptions with 35, nearly as many yards with 350, and two touchdowns. He has formed a nice relationship with Mayfield, and outside of the Pittsburgh game in Week 8, his production is holding steady each week.

Two things to consider about Njoku:

First, he is still only 22. He's one of the league's youngest at the position, and remember there were tight ends taken in the 2018 draft that were older than Njoku. He is just beginning to come into his own.

Second, he is also now on his second offensive scheme and third play caller in just a season and half of NFL time. Those things matter.

Consistency is usually a byproduct of continuity. The more Njoku can settle into an offense that will be here for the foreseeable future, the better he will be.

That's even more pressure for the Browns to bring in the right head coach and play-caller who can keep his system around well into the future.

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Jake Burns played Division III football as a quarterback and also has coached at the high school level. You can read more X&O analysis from Burns at the OBR and VikingUpdate.com.