One of the biggest Week 1 breakout stars of the 2025 fantasy football season was Harold Fannin Jr.
At a tight end position that carries several studs but remains volatile on the whole (and even has some injured stars at the moment), the electric receiving tight end put up a sparkling debut that teases a bright future.
However, how believable should we consider this performance? Fantasy players have been burned by these fleeting types before.
Keep reading to get to know one of the early-season gems and whether fantasy managers should bank on more success from Fannin this year.
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Who is Harold Fannin Jr.?
Harold Fannin Jr. is the rookie TE for the Cleveland Browns. He was drafted by the Browns in the third round of the NFL Draft with pick No. 67.
Fannin attended Bowling Green State University, where he broke MAC records. Fannin currently holds the record for most career receptions and receiving yards per game of any TE in the history of the MAC.
Fannin made his NFL Debut in Week 1 and now has fantasy managers' attention.
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What Harold Fannin did in fantasy Week 1
In Week 1, Fannin played a whopping 55 snaps in his NFL Debut. Fannin was targeted 9 times and caught 7 passes for 63 yards.
Due to this high volume, Fannin finished as the overall TE6 in PPR for Week 1.
He saw the fourth-highest snap share among every offensive player on the Browns, and according to PFF, played 41.7% of these snaps in the slot.
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What's Harold Fannin's role in the Browns' offense?
Fannin has one of the more unique roles as a TE in the entire NFL. The best (and maybe only) comparison you can make is to Tyler Warren's play style.
The Browns used Fannin all over the field in Week 1. He was in the slot 16 times and went out wide six times.
Harold Fannin Jr. and Tyler Warren both set an NFL record in their debuts
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) September 7, 2025
Fannin and Warren had 7 catches each — the most all time by any rookie tight end in Week 1 🔥
H/T @thenickshook pic.twitter.com/ocbZdgB0is
The elephant in the room we have not brought up yet is the fact that he is not the TE1 in this offense. David Njoku, despite being targeted 3 fewer times than Fannin, had a 14% higher snap share in Week 1. Fannin also ran 10 fewer routes than Njoku in this game.
However, this does not make Fannin any less valuable due to his ability to be moved around.
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Harold Fannin fantasy outlook for rest of season
If Njoku were not in the picture, Fannin would be primed for a stellar breakout rookie season. However, Njoku is here, and he's a great TE for the Browns offense.
This is not to say Fannin and Njoku cannot co-exist, after all, 12-personal exists for a reason. The simplest way to describe 12-personal is a package on offense that allows 2 TEs on the field at the same time. There's also 22-personal, but that's much less commonly used.
Luckily for Fannin, his head coach is Kevin Stefanski, who loves running 12-personnel. In fact, in Week 1, the Browns ran 71 plays with 12 personnel. This was the third highest in the NFL, only behind the Buffalo Bills (78) and San Francisco 49ers (72).
Therefore, even though Fannin is the TE2 on the Browns and is behind a great TE in Njoku, he's going to have plenty of opportunities to showcase his elite talent.
MORE: Fannin ranks as a great George Kittle injury fantasy replacement.