Harold Fannin Jr. Re-Aggravates Knee, Pausing Fantasy Football League-Winning Status
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Harold Fannin Jr. is the newest, high-impact addition to the Week 18 Injury Report. Fannin Jr. was listed in the report in the leadup to Week 17, but he did go. Early in the game, Fannin Jr. did catch a touchdown pass, but also re-aggravated his groin, thus not returning to the game. If your league is still alive, this will be a high-impact injury for a borderline Top-5 Tight End in Fantasy Football.
Fantasy Football Impact
Maybe the worst ball you'll ever see thrown by Shedeur Sanders followed by the best ball tracking you'll ever see by Harold Fannin Jr. pic.twitter.com/R9X3NFrRfM
— Chuck Bass (@ChuckFBass) December 28, 2025
It looks very unlikely that Fannin Jr. is going to play against the Bengals in Week 18. This will drastically impact this offense. We will first touch of the Browns other Tight End, David Njoku.
Njoku would greatly benefit, but he has been dealing with his own array of injuries. Njoku has mainly been dealing with a knee injury and thus, he has not played over the last four games. Njoku has tried to work his way back into the lineup, but it looks rather unlikely that he will play as well.
The Browns are now going down their depth chart to supplement the Tight End position. In Week 17, Blake Whiteheart was the leading Tight End with 62% of snaps played. He had just (1) Target for (0) Receptions.
Brendan Bates was the TE2 after Fannin Jr. went down. He had (1) Target for (1) Reception, going for (19) Yards. Sal Cannella was the TE3 in this Tight-End heavy offense. He was the highest targeted of the three, playing to (4) Targets, (2) Receptions, and (11) Yards on 35% of snaps.
It seems like the Tight Ends will combine to supplement for Fannin Jr. and Njoku's absences. In turn, this should not boost Jerry Jeudy or Cedric Tillman much, if at all.
Stock Watch
All three Browns Tight Ends are unplayable and unrosterable. Sal Cannella is the only option if you wish to go ultra-cheap in DFS contests, but that is also high-risk. He does face the Bengals abysmal Tight End defense, although this will be Cincinnati's best matchup of the year.
Jerry Jeudy remains as a risky Flex play.
Stay tuned to our Tuesday Rankings for further analysis.
Harold Fannin Jr.'s Season Likely Over with Knee Injury
Harold Fannin Jr. has been downgraded to OUT vs. Steelers with a groin injury pic.twitter.com/qojOHKwiQX
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) December 28, 2025
Fannin Jr. worked to play in Week 17, and that he did. However, he aggravated his knee injury early in the game on a Touchdown scoring play. He did not return to the game.
Between the injury and having nothing to play for, Fannin Jr. is very unlikely to play in Week 18. He will very likely join David Njoku on the bench. Fannin Jr. does trend very highly in 2026 Fantasy Football as a potential Top-5 Tight End. Njoku, on the other hand, hits free agency and a very likely exit for Cleveland.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.