2026 Draftee Joe Royer Could Become Harold Fannin Jr.’s Perfect Complement

Harold Fannin Jr.’s rise during his rookie season was a bright spot in an otherwise struggle-filled 2025 campaign for the Cleveland Browns.

The 21-year-old tight end out of Bowling Green State University finished his first year of NFL action with 72 catches for 731 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He averaged just north of 10 yards per catch as well.

And with teams around the league expected to try to shut him down this season, the Browns' front office went out and added a few extra bodies to complement him out on the gridiron. While wideouts Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion immediately come to mind, one of the Browns' late-draft selections may have a bigger impact on Fannin Jr.'s game than they will.

A Potential No. 2 to Fannin Jr.

In the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Browns selected tight end Joe Royer out of Cincinnati.

Royer, who comes in at 6-foot-0, 255 pounds, was a weapon offensively in his final two years as a Bearcat. He hauled in 79 catches for 937 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging nearly 12 yards per catch. In 2024, which was his junior season, he caught 50 passes, breaking the school record for most catches in a single season, previously held by Travis Kelce.

Last season, he ranked fifth among FBS tight ends with yards after catch per reception, averaging out to 8.9 yards. He was also the only FBS tight end to have multiple receptions of 60-plus yards.

That type of production to just get open and make chunk plays along the way is exactly what Fannin Jr. did last season with Cleveland, making Royer a great counterpart to such play.

He's not the biggest player on the field, at least height-wise, making him less of a downfield target, but the Browns will likely use him for some size across the middle of the field.

With how heavily Cleveland's coaching staff has used a two-tight-end set the past few years, bringing in Royer will allow them to have two reliable targets in the passing game.

Alongside Royer, Cleveland also selected Carsen Ryan out of BYU in the seventh round. In free agency, Cleveland also signed Jack Stoll.

That puts the team up to four tight ends, all of whom will likely receive a good chunk of opportunities to perform by the time Week 1 rolls around.

But of the bunch, Royer's track record he displayed at Cincinnati makes him the obvious option to be the secondary option behind Fannin Jr.

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