Browns stock up, Stock down following playoff loss

Stock up: TE David Njoku

This 2023 NFL season was the year of the Chief, as David Njoku finally had his breakout year in production. Career highs in catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns. He was electric after the catch as well, leading all NFL tight ends in YAC.

Saturday was business as usual for the Chief as he hauled in seven of his 11 targets for 93 yards. One of those catches was for 45 yards that eventually set up the Browns' first touchdown of the game. Njoku was one of the few offensive players that was consistent this year and it was great to see. Let’s hope he receives the same amount of target share next year as he is the second-best receiving weapon on this team behind Amari Cooper.

Stock down: OTs Geron Christian/James Hudson 

The major story of the Browns season was how badly bad their roster was ravaged by injuries, but no other position group was hurt by injuries more than the offensive tackle position. Their starting left tackle, starting right tackle, and stud backup right tackle all landed on IR before week 14.

While the offense was able to make it work for a while, the lack of solid pass protection at the tackle position caught up with them. These two offensive tackles were responsible for allowing 10 out of the 17 pressures and two of the four sacks on Saturday. Now while they weren’t expected to be starters or even meaningful backups this season, they haven’t played well enough to guarantee themselves a roster spot come August.