Prime-Time Props — Thursday Night Football, Week 1
Prop God
Our FTN Fantasy tools and stats provide so much detail and insight on players. When making preseason draft decisions or facing in-season start/sit dilemmas, having access to our robust database is a huge advantage over your competition. Each week, I will provide a deep dive into one of our core stats here at FTN Fantasy that highlights the strengths or weaknesses of certain players.
Today, we will dive into our incredible FTN StatsHub, which is constructed through extensive charting data.
Let’s take a closer look at our created catches stat, which compiles passes that weren’t expected to be caught or bad throws that were caught.
David Njoku, TE, Cleveland Browns
The fantasy football market is not giving David Njoku enough credit for his superb 2023 season. Per our FTN charting data, Njoku finished:
- Third among all tight ends in targets (123)
- Fifth in receptions (81)
- Sixth in receiving yards (882)
- Second in total touchdowns
- First in yards after the catch
That is impressive enough, but his season is even better when you consider our created catches stat. Per FTN charting data, Njoku ranked first among all tight ends in passes that weren’t expected to be caught or were bad throws.
| Player | Team | Created Catches |
| David Njoku | CLV | 7 |
| Hunter Henry | NE | 5 |
| Trey McBride | ARI | 4 |
| Jake Ferguson | DAL | 4 |
| Kyle Pitts | ATL | 4 |
| Mark Andrews | BAL | 4 |
| Evan Engram | JAC | 3 |
| T.J. Hockenson | MIN | 3 |
| Sam LaPorta | DET | 3 |
| Tyler Conklin | NYJ | 3 |
| Chigoziem Okonkwo | TEN | 3 |
| Isaiah Likely | BAL | 3 |
Njoku posted more than double the number of created catches of Evan Engram (114 receptions), T.J. Hockenson (second in FPPG) and Sam LaPorta (overall TE1). If Njoku gets even a slight increase in quarterback production, he will easily surpass last year’s overall TE7 finish. Per our FTN Underdog ADP Tool, Njoku is currently being drafted as the overall TE11, four spots below last year’s finish.
If Njoku was the PPR TE7 last year while catching passes from Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, PJ Walker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Jeff Driskel, there is enormous upside for the 2024 season. He has improved his targets, receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns each of the past five straight seasons, and his elite performance in our created catches metrics proves his ability to produce irrespective of QB play.
Njoku ended the season with weekly stat lines of overall TE2, TE2, TE4, TE3 and TE3. The 28-year-old explosive tight end is primed for a career year in Cleveland. Njoku carries the exact profile of a fantasy football league winner.
