The Cleveland Browns had to be very optimistic about what tight end Harold Fannin Jr. would be able to do against the New Orleans Saints last Sunday, with Shedeur Sanders taking over at quarterback. Last season as rookies, the two showed good chemistry during Sanders’ late-season starts, giving them something they could build on in the QB’s first start of 2026.
Yet, coming off 16 receptions in his previous two games combined, Fannin was nowhere to be found until the final two minutes of overtime. He was not targeted once during regulation, and the Browns did not score a touchdown until the fourth quarter.
But when Fannin did finally catch a pass, he made the most of it. His 39-yard touchdown, when he put two Saints defenders into the ground with stiff arms, gave the Browns a chance to pull out the win, but a two-point conversion attempt failed in the 23-22 loss.
Looking back on the game, Cleveland legend Joe Thomas is urging the Browns to involve Fannin more on offense, saying, “You got to get the man the rock.”
“That’s sad for my guy Harold Fannin, who had one of the great plays of the season thus far and has really become one of the focal points of this offense, showing that in year two he’s taken another step not just as a pass catcher but as a blocker. We’ve seen that improvement in the last few weeks and pretty exciting to see him hopefully getting involved a little bit more. Obviously, he had that great play in overtime, but really wasn’t targeted until overtime, unfortunately. And I think that’s one of the things that, as they look back on the game plan and try to dissect what happened here, I think you need to get Harold Fannin involved earlier because he does have that angry run potential. He’s got incredible playmaking ability, and you got to get the man the rock,” Thomas said.
That was certainly the plan the week before in a 27-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, when Fannin turned 12 targets from Deshaun Watson into 10 catches for 154 yards in a career-best game for the second-year pro. Before that, he had six catches on nine targets for 91 yards in a 27-24 win against the Tennessee Titans.
So, the Saints had to be well aware of what Fannin was capable of and paid plenty of attention to him in their defensive game plan. That likely was one of the main reasons Sanders managed just 38 passing yards on eight attempts in the first half, and the Browns offense posted just 80 yards and one field goal overall in another slow start.
Even when things started to open up in the second half, Fannin remained a non-factor. As Thomas states, perhaps if Fannin were used earlier, the Browns wouldn’t have gone to overtime in the first place.
Now, with Watson likely back as the starter this Sunday against the Houston Texans, Fannin will look for another big game right from the get-go.
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