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David Njoku, Austin Hooper start or sit: Week 5 fantasy football advice

We go over the fantasy football outlooks of David Njoku and Austin Hooper ahead of the Browns Week 5 matchup against the Chargers.

Austin Hooper #81 celebrates his touchdown with teammate Rashard Higgins #82 of the Cleveland Browns during a game between the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 26, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

The Cleveland Browns haven’t been able to secure one player as their starting tight end from a usage perspective. Technically it is Austin Hooper, but there have certainly been weeks when David Njoku has been the hot hand and has gotten the work. The problem is that neither player has been consistent, but they do have a good matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers this weekend.

Fantasy Football analysis: Browns TEs David Njoku, Austin Hooper

Hooper heads into Week 5 as the overall TE24 while Njoku slots in as the TE31. Hooper has had a decent workload with the team, but he can’t seem to get on the same page with quarterback Baker Mayfield. In the Browns Week 4 game, Hooper had five targets but was only able to catch one of them for a paltry 11 yards.

Njoku’s best game was in Week 1 when he caught a touchdown and had 76 receiving yards on three receptions from five targets. This made it seem like the young tight end’s career may be on the resurgence, but it didn’t last as Njoku has had five targets since then and has added only 35 yards to his season total. Njoku is also dealing with a knee injury so monitor his game status. If he sits it would give a slight boost to Hooper, but wouldn’t launch him into starter territory.

Fantasy Start/Sit Recommendation

Even though the Chargers are giving up the fifth-most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends, you should sit both Hooper and Njoku.