Harold Fannin vs Joe Burrow

“Undervalued: Harold Fannin Jr, Tight End (TE6, Pick 79 OVR) This isn’t to say that Fannin doesn’t belong at TE6, as that’s also where I have him. That is to say that he is a fantastic pick at TE6, and he’s going literally the pick before Kyle Pitts.”

“Harold Fannin in 4 full games that David Njoku missed all of most of last season: • 82.6% route rate • 0.28 targets per route • 27.2% target share”

“Harold Fannin Jr. will face intense competition for targets in 2026 after the Browns drafted KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston. He averaged 9.3 PPR fantasy points per game in 11 contests with seven or fewer targets last season.”

“During his rookie year, while sharing a position room with David Njoku , Fannin saw the seventh-most targets (104) and averaged the eighth-most fantasy points per game (11.7). Now, with Njoku on the Chargers, there is potential for Fannin to have an even bigger role.”

“The Ballers shared their concerns about Harold Fannin Jr: Jason: "I hate these middle-round tight ends, but I love Fannin so much." Andy: "I want Harold Fannin to not be a sophomore flop." However, there are concerns from the QB play to the increase in competition to the new head coach and offensive coordinator.”

“He drew the second-most targets per route run at tight end last season (25.5%). While the Browns have questions at quarterback, Fannin is unquestionably the top target in the offense, and new head coach Todd Monken's track record would suggest he plans to rely heavily on him.”

“The Browns already have a target-dominant TE1 in Harold Fannin, and there doesn't feel like there's much room left to prioritize Concepcion in any meaningful way.”

“Fannin finished as the TE8 in points per game and has been elevated to the TE6 in ADP, ahead of Sam LaPorta and Kyle Pitts. Fannin seems likely to field passes from both Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson, and both are responsible for some of the worst quarterback play we've seen in the league over the last five years.”

“With Quinshon Judkins returning fully healthy and the Browns overhauling their offensive line to build a more balanced attack in 2026, both Judkins and fellow sophomore Dylan Sampson are expected to be more involved this year, making it difficult to envision Fannin replicating a TE6 finish.”

“Harold Fannin led all Browns players last year with 107 targets, but with Deshaun Watson now as the starter and Cleveland bringing in wideouts KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston to help the team move the ball, a sharp decrease in volume is expected.”

“He's gotten a lot more expensive at the same time as he's gotten a lot more target competition. Instead of competing with just Jerry Jeudy and a bunch of scrubs, now the Browns have added standout rookies KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston to the mix. Fannin is overmatched as an in-line blocker, so that role is likely to go to better blockers like Blake Whiteheart.”

“Cleveland hired Todd Monken as their new head coach in the offseason, and he is known for being a run-heavy signal-caller. I'd anticipate Fannin being on the receiving end of the occasional play-action pass, rather than featured as prominently as he was in 2025.”

“Lamar Jackson , Jayden Daniels , Joe Burrow , Baker Mayfield , and Kyler Murray all were selected as top-12 players at the position and finished double-digit slots behind expectations in terms of points per game.”

“Round 1: Joe Burrow (QB – CIN) To kick things off at No. 4 overall, I went with Joe Burrow .”

“Even with a modest target share, Higgins maximizes his opportunities in one of the NFL’s premier passing offenses led by Joe Burrow .”

“The pivot to more under-center passing won’t be as natural and certainly might not be anywhere near as successful for the Bengals, because Burrow clearly isn’t as comfortable and doesn’t perform as well. In fact, if we go back the last three years, Burrow’s under-center dropbacks average just 3.6 air yards, which ranked dead last: #69 out of 69 qualifying QBs. His time to throw of 2.81 seconds was the #5 fastest out of 69 QBs, and he threw just 17% of passes 10+ yards downfield, also ranking dead last.”

“Zac Taylor wants the Bengals to play more from under center in 2026. Unfortunately, Joe Burrow under center is precisely where this offense struggles most, which is why the Bengals haven't used it often of late. How much the Bengals choose to pivot to under-center passing and how much Burrow can improve on these dropbacks might have a large impact on their fortunes in 2026.”

“Overvalued: Joe Burrow, Quarterback (QB4, Pick 59 OVR) Now, this isn’t to say that I don’t like Joe Burrow, or that I don’t think that Joe Burrow is a talented player; I just think that Joe Burrow is capped insofar as he doesn’t rush at all, and the Bengals’ offensive line isn’t strong enough for him to be a consistent top-four player without the rushing.”

“Of the top-10 quarterbacks based on LTV, Burrow is the one quarterback with little to no rushing upside, making him the quarterback I would want to trade away.”

“Burrow was once again impactful when on the field, completing 66.8% of his passes for a 6.6% touchdown rate. Burrow is the only quarterback with a touchdown rate of 6% or higher in each of the past two seasons.”

“Despite finishing the season as the QB29 last season due to missed games, Burrow finished the season red hot. Through the final six weeks of 2025, Burrow was on pace for 4500+ passing yards and 43 passing TDs. Since 2023, Burrow in Week 1 has been atrocious.”

“Over the last four seasons, Burrow has established himself as one of the NFL's premier fantasy quarterbacks even without the rushing upside of the Allen/Lamar types. He finished as the overall QB3 or better for 14 weeks in that span. What's wild is he missed 17 games in that span!”

“Joe Burrow's health has been the biggest hurdle for this team in recent seasons. If he remains healthy, Burrow will put up MVP numbers, and the Bengals will be in the thick of the playoff hunt in a loaded AFC field of contenders.”

“Seeing Joe Burrow go ahead of quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Drake Maye is quite shocking, but Burrow is firmly going as the QB2 on Fantrax. If Burrow were to have another season like 2024, with 45 total touchdowns and almost 5,000 passing yards, he would be worthy of this selection. But we also have to consider the possibility of a repeat of his 2025 season, in which Burrow played only eight games and threw 17 passing touchdowns while finishing with fewer than 2,000 yards in half a season.”