David Njoku aims to get '1% better' while continuing to grow his bond with Deshaun Watson

BEREA — T.C. McCartney had his first opportunity to really work hands-on with David Njoku last year, his first as the full-time Browns tight ends coach after two seasons as an offensive assistant.

With the team having completed its offseason program and awaiting the start of training camp later this month, that has given McCartney more than a year's worth of work with the former 2017 first-round pick. That's allowed him to pinpoint where the growth has come from for Njoku.

"I think Dave is super sharp," McCartney said on June 8, the final day of the Browns' offseason program. "Again, in this offense, we just ask the tight ends to do a ton, and it takes a special type of person to be able to handle all that, and he's one of them.

"The other thing is he played a lot of plays last year. He's super physically tough, which isn't critical to play this position. So I think those are the two things that have jumped out the most, is just how smart and how tough he is."

It wouldn't be a stretch to say Njoku is coming off a season in which he finally showed the kind of abilities that have long intrigued the Browns. He finished with a career-high 58 catches while both his receiving yards (628) and targets (80) were just off what had been career-best totals.

That injuries cost Njoku three full games also means there was meat left on the bone of what easily could be construed as a breakthrough season on the heels of him signing a four-year extension worth a maximum of $56.75 million. Between a Week 3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and a Week 7 loss at the Baltimore Ravens, he had 30 catches on 36 targets for 379 yards.

Njoku missed the next two games, and three of the next five. While he had definite moments over the remainder of the season — see his one-handed catch against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to force overtime — he couldn't fully regain that pace.

That's only served to motivate him more this season.

“Next step is just get 1% better every day, really," Njoku said during last month's minicamp. "That's pretty much been the steps throughout my career. Just find one thing and then just get better at that and see how we all progress.”

There's reason to believe that progress is coming. It's not just because of how Njoku has progressed himself, but because of who is back to throw him the football.

When quarterback Deshaun Watson returned from suspension in Week 13 last season, Njoku was sidelined with a different injury. However, the quarterback and tight end were together over the final five games of the season, and showed an almost instant connection.

Watson may have had struggles getting consistently on the same page with others, but that wasn't necessarily the case with Njoku, whom he targeted 28 times over five games for 17 receptions and 164 yards with two touchdowns.

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That has to potential to serve as a starting point to the kind of connection between the quarterback known for targeting his tight ends and the tight end who is looking to build off a breakthrough season.

“The sky's the limit," Njoku said. "We have an opportunity to do something that never has ever been done here. So we try to take it one day at a time, focus on what we can control and just handle it like that.”

The gold standard in the NFL of quarterback-tight end connections is what the Kansas City Chiefs have in Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. It's a standard by which all others pale in comparison.

Njoku doesn't believe that to mean there can't be other quarterback-tight end connections that rise to No. 2 behind that dynamic duo.

"I've known Trav for a while and as well as Patrick. They are elites," Njoku said. "So I would hope that most, if not all tight ends and quarterbacks aspire to be up to that stature, because they are just for years now, consistency, rolling, you know what I mean? So they are amazing. And we try to be the best we can be, especially together.”

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: David Njoku eyes personal growth, even better bond with Deshaun Watson