Depth Chart Debate: Harold Fannin Jr. Has More Long-Term Upside Than David Njoku
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Kevin Stefanski has a way of leveraging his offense to its strengths. In the past, they ran through Nick Chubb — a no-brainer. Last season, they fed Jerry Jeudy as the best player on the offense. This year, they have been working the ball towards two elite pass-catching tight ends. That is, David Njoku and Harold Fannin Jr. The question has been quickly answered as to whether they can support the rookie, and the answer is yes. Now, we must decide how to value the two going forward.
David Njoku
In two games thus far this season, Njoku has caught 7-of-11 targets for 77 Yards. This brings him to a 13% target share, somewhat low, but not awful in a spread offense. In 2024, Njoku had a 15% target share, but he did capitalize to become the respectable TE11 in fantasy football. The team loves working in his talent, and so they will continue to do so.
That slight issue at hand here is that Njoku is due to become a free agent in 2026. This surely keeps him hungry to perform, but do the Browns feel the same way? Perhaps they may look to increase the workload of Harold Fannin Jr, a cheaper rookie-to-stay. Concern becomes mildly aired with Njoku, but panic should not settle in. He just carries a bit more future risk than his counterpart.
Harold Fannin Jr
Fannin Jr set historic marks at Bowling Green. This may have led to him being overlooked as a non-power five player, but he did record 117 Catches, 1,555 Yards and 10 Touchdowns in 13 Games last season. These are truly amazing numbers, especially for a tight end.
Harold Fannin Jr has ELITE usage through two weeks 📈 pic.twitter.com/RPq9hk6xYn
— PFF Fantasy (@PFF_Fantasy) September 18, 2025
Entering this season, he commanded some hype, but to what extent would he become involved, we did not know. It has been very clear that he will be very involved all season long. In two games this season, Fannin Jr has a 17% target share which is 3rd on the team, but only one target behind Cedric Tillman and two behind Jerry Jeudy. This has amounted him to 12 Catches for 111 Yards.
Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: David Njoku vs Harold Fannin Jr
This is a quite interesting start/sit debate as you are comparing two fantasy viable tight ends on the same team. This has not been a case in the NFL in quite some time. The closest debate that we have had is Mark Andrews vs Isaiah Likely, but that is not as close as these two.
I think it is important to evaluate risk in this situation. The Browns are a bad team and they are surely looking to the future. They drafted Fannin Jr to be a piece, and now he is. I do not expect the Browns to aggressively pursue a re-signing of Njoku, thus paving the path for the future of the Browns offense.
Though very early on, I would expect Fannin Jr to be the long-term tight end in Cleveland. In fact, he may be a top receiving option on this offense, especially if Kevin Stefanski does not get fired (which leans to not happen).
The analysis here is that Fannin Jr has higher upside and more security at his position. This is a volatile analysis with a low sample-size, but I would prefer Fannin Jr at this point in time.
Our Fantasy Sports On SI Rest-of-Season Rankings:
David Njoku: TE5
Harold Fannin Jr: TE18
More Fantasy Sports On SI News:
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.