Browns regular season awards: Unexpected defender for Rookie of the Year

Offensive Player of the Year: David Njoku, TE

There were a couple of options here including Amari Cooper, who set the franchise record for most receiving yards in a single game in Week 16. He also became the first player in team history to record back-to-back seasons with 1,000 yards receiving. Simply put, Cooper was fantastic.

As good as he was, he gets edged out for the Browns Offensive Player of the Year by tight end David Njoku. The seventh-year player lead the team with 81 receptions as well as with six touchdown catches. Each of those is a career-high for him as are the 882 yards, which is second on the team behind Cooper.

While Cooper is deserving and did make a lot of splash plays, Njoku was a stud when it came to converting third-and-long plays. He did this often by taking a short catch and turning it into something big afterward. His “angry runs” constantly got the crowd fired up and would give his offense a fresh set of downs.

In addition to his play in the passing game, Njoku has become one of the top run-blocking tight ends in the NFL. As if that wasn’t enough, he was able to take the field — and performed well — just days after suffering serious burns to his hands and face. Njoku is the epitome of toughness, which is what this entire team has been known for this year.