If you just glance at the final stats, you’d think David Njoku had a quiet 2025. You’d be wrong. Stats lie, or at least they don't tell the whole story when a guy is playing in an offense that's basically a rotating door of quarterbacks and schemes.
Honestly, the david njoku game log for this past season is a chaotic map of "what ifs" and "almosts."
He finished the year with 33 catches for 293 yards and four touchdowns. On paper? Modest. In reality? He was the only thing keeping the Browns' red zone offense from completely flatlining for half the season.
The Slow Burn Start
The season opener against the Bengals on September 7th set a weird tone. Njoku grabbed 3 balls for 37 yards. He looked fast, but the chemistry with the QB just wasn't there yet.
Then came the Week 2 blowout against Baltimore. It was ugly. While the Browns were getting hammered 41-17, Njoku was one of the few bright spots, snagging 4 passes for 40 yards, including a 23-yarder that reminded everyone why they call him "Chief."
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By Week 5 against the Vikings, things finally clicked. He saw a season-high 9 targets. He hauled in 6 of them for 67 yards and his first touchdown of the year. You could see the confidence oozing off him. He was jumping over defenders, stiff-arming safeties, and basically being the physical freak Cleveland drafted him to be.
The Mid-Season Red Zone Surge
One thing the david njoku game log proves is that when the Browns get near the goal line, they look for #85. Period.
Between Week 8 and Week 10, he became a touchdown machine.
- Week 8 (@ Patriots): 4 catches, 37 yards, 1 TD.
- Week 10 (@ Jets): 2 catches, 21 yards, 1 TD.
He wasn't racking up 100-yard games, but he was efficient. He was the safety valve. Even when rookie Harold Fannin started getting more hype in the local media, Njoku remained the primary "must-score" target.
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Then the wheels kinda came off.
Injuries and the Fannin Factor
Football is a brutal business. After Week 10, Njoku’s production started to dip. Part of it was a nagging knee issue that eventually ended his season early. Part of it was the emergence of the rookie, Harold Fannin.
By Week 12 against the Raiders, Njoku didn't even record a catch. Zero. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a guy who’s been a staple of the offense for nearly a decade.
His final appearance came in Week 14 against Tennessee. It was a heartbreaker. He caught exactly one pass for exactly one yard. But—and this is classic Njoku—that one yard was a touchdown. He went out doing exactly what he does best: finding the end zone when nobody else could.
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Why the Game Log Matters for 2026
If you're looking at the david njoku game log to figure out his future, you have to look at the "Situational" stats. He was 100% on catches inside the 5-yard line. When the ball was in his hands, he was still one of the hardest tight ends in the league to bring down, averaging 5 yards after the catch per reception.
The Browns are heading into an offseason of massive uncertainty. Njoku is set to be a free agent. Does Cleveland keep the veteran who knows the system, or do they hand the keys to Fannin?
If you look at the games where Njoku was healthy and targeted—like that Week 5 Vikings game—it's clear the talent hasn't faded. The 29-year-old still has the twitch. He still has the vertical. He just needs a situation that doesn't involve three different starting quarterbacks in a single month.
Key Takeaways for Fans and Analysts
If you're dissecting his performance, keep these three things in mind.
- Red Zone Efficiency: His 4 touchdowns on only 33 catches is an insane scoring rate. That's a TD every 8 catches.
- Target Quality: His average depth of target (aDOT) was only 5.9 yards this year. He was being used as a check-down more than a vertical threat, which explains the lower yardage totals.
- Reliability: Despite the "drop" narrative that followed him early in his career, he only had 2 drops on 48 targets in 2025. That's elite-level hands.
The next step is watching the "legal tampering" period in March. If Njoku hits the open market, teams like the Bengals or even the Chiefs might look at that 2025 game log and see a guy who is still a premier red-zone weapon. For Cleveland, letting him walk would mean losing the second-best receiver in franchise history.
Whatever happens, the "Chief" era in Cleveland gave us one last season of gritty, situational brilliance. He didn't need 1,000 yards to prove he was the heart of that locker room.