Harold Fannin
vs Joe Burrow

“Browns Fantasy Tight End Preview Harold Fannin After a quiet season opener, Fannin has rebounded with games of 5-45-0 and 7-51-2. He scored both Cleveland touchdowns on Sunday, becoming the first Cleveland player to get an end-zone target other than Boston to open the season. Fannin is averaging only 9.0 yards per catch, but with Watson focusing on getting rid of the football, he has regained opportunities in the offense.”

“Fannin played 85.7% of the snaps, ran 68.8% of the routes, and earned a 30% target share. On that improved usage, he earned nine targets, catching seven of them for 51 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 24.1 PPR points on the day. Fannin won’t get 30% of the targets every game, but this is also a ceiling that most tight ends don’t have.”

“Fannin had 72 catches for 731 yards and six TDs last year. He led all FBS pass catchers — both tight ends and wide receivers — in catches and receiving yards in his final college season at Bowling Green in 2024. Fannin is a legitimate dude, and he could be the answer to a fantasy team’s TE problem.” – Pat Fitzmaurice ( FantasyPros )”

“Fannin was fourth on the team with a 13.6% target share and 7.1% first-read share. He had only two receptions and 21 receiving yards (0.95 YPRR). Fannin also didn’t get any high cholesterol usage, as he didn’t have any red zone, end zone, or deep targets.”

“Fannin caught two passes for 21 yards all afternoon, even though Cleveland was in catch-up mode all game long. As long as Deshaun Watson is under center, it will be difficult to trust anyone on the Browns as a startable asset moving forward.”

“Fannin has to compete with two outstanding rookie receivers for targets in KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston . Veteran Jerry Jeudy remains as well.”

“Harold Fannin is one in this range, which should be the top target option on his team, and he doesn’t have to compete with Njoku this year.”

“The Browns have added more weapons and Njoku is gone, so it will be interesting to see if Fannin was a product of necessity or talent. I believe it is the latter, and the second-easiest opening schedule gives him a great opportunity to prove it.”

“Harold Fannin is coming off the board around the sixth-round/seventh-round turn.”

“Fannin exploded onto the scene as a rookie, finishing as the TE5 on a team that was pretty miserable in Cleveland. The hope for Fannin is that he will continue to be at least the second target for the Browns, though he may be limited due to questionable QB play.”

“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.”

“Fannin averaged 9.3 PPR fantasy points per game in the 11 contests with seven or fewer targets last year. By comparison, Fannin averaged 16.9 fantasy points per game in the five contests with eight or more targets.”

“Bengals Bengals QB Joe Burrow had 58 passing attempts in the loss to the Jaguars on Sunday, but feels that the team can throw it even more going forward.”

“Burrow had an underwhelming opener, but he’s tallied 489 passing yards (244.5 per game), 7.45 adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A), five passing touchdowns, and zero interceptions in two subsequent contests, scoring 19.88 DraftKings points per game and 19.88 FanDuel points per game in the last two weeks. The Bengals lost a shootout last week, and the Jaguars have the firepower to push Burrow into a ceiling performance through the air. His top passing-game weapon will be featured in the core studs.”

“Joe Burrow may not be a must-start this week, but Chase Brown , Ja’Marr Chase , and Tee Higgins are all auto-starts.”

“According to the Fantasy Points Data Suite 2.0, among 33 quarterbacks with at least 20 dropbacks, Burrow ranks: 13th in passing yards per game (230.5) 19th in adjusted net yards per pass attempt (6.14 ANY/A) Tied for 14th in passing touchdowns (three) 10th in expected passing touchdowns (3.5) 21st in rushing yards per game (9.5) Interestingly, the Bengals are just fifth in pass rate over expected (6.3% PROE) this year. That’s still pass-happy, but Cincinnati tied for first in PROE (7.9%) from 2023 through 2025. Their defense is better, and the washed-up, Aaron Rodgers -led Steelers are unlikely to push Burrow and Cincinnati’s offense into a shootout.”

“Joe Burrow nearly gifted Tampa Bay a pick-six, the Buccaneers heavily guarded Chase, and Burrow simply could not connect with his WR1. That extra attention also opened things up elsewhere: TE Mike Gesicki finished with five catches for 78 yards and a TD as Tampa Bay focused on containing Chase and Tee Higgins . Look, that does not completely let Chase off the hook.”

“Joe Burrow’s health has been a concern in recent years, but I’ll bank on him playing a full season with one of the easiest schedules in football. I believe 4,500 yards and 40 touchdowns are more than doable.”

“But if Bengals QB Joe Burrow, who missed nine games last season, enjoys a season of good health, McPherson should have his fair share of FG and PAT opportunities.”

“When Joe Burrow was healthy, he was a top-three quarterback last season”

“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.”