Projected Role & Competition
The Browns opted not to re-sign Njoku this offseason, which should put Fannin in a full-time role.
He’ll face tougher target competition, though, after Cleveland spent a top-40 picks on WRs KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston.
Concepcion (24th overall) broke out as a freshman at North Carolina State in 2023 and led Texas A&M with 61 catches, 919 yards, and 9 TDs last year. He’s position-versatile and especially dangerous after the catch.
Boston (39th overall) is your classic big-bodied outside receiver. The 6’4, 212-pounder averaged 13.7 yards per catch with 20 total TDs over his final two seasons at Washington.
They join Jeudy in what could at least be an average WR corps this season. That’d mark a big improvement over last year.
Supporting Cast
QB play remains a big concern.
Deshaun Watson is the early favorite to start, but he’s working back from a twice-torn Achilles. And he wasn’t good with Cleveland even before those injuries, averaging just 6.0 yards per pass attempt across 2022-2024.
The Browns also return second-year QBs Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. Neither was good as a rookie, averaging 6.6 and 5.1 yards per attempt, respectively.
Cleveland is favored in just one game this season and implied for 17.9 points per game, the lowest in the league.
Coaching & Offensive Scheme
The Browns canned HC Kevin Stefanski and OC Tommy Rees after the 2025 season and replaced them with HC Todd Monken and OC Travis Switzer.
Monken confirmed during his introductory press conference that he'll call offensive plays. This is his first NFL head coaching gig, but he has seven seasons of OC experience (three with the Buccaneers, one with the Browns, and three with the Ravens).
Monken’s Ravens teams were run-heavy, due in large part to having QB Lamar Jackson and RB Derrick Henry. But he leaned pass prior to that, with three of his first four offenses ranking higher in pass attempts than rush attempts.
TEs have typically been a significant part of Monken’s passing games, accounting for 20+% of targets in five of his seven offenses, including 22+% in each of the last three in Baltimore. (The league-wide average is around 20.5%.)
Here’s where Monken’s top TEs have finished in PPR points per game:
Monken gave Fannin some big praise this offseason, comparing him to Brock Bowers, who Monken coached at Georgia in 2021 and 2022.
"He's a little like Brock Bowers in the fact that his body type is more of an 'H' and 'F,' run-after-catch more than length,” Monken said in April. “So you love his athleticism, you like his ability to run after catch, his ball skills like Brock, very similar in that regard."
Paths to Ceiling
Fannin hogged 27% of Browns targets and scored at a TE2 pace in four games without Njoku last year. Njoku is gone now.
The Cleveland WR corps has improved, but Fannin could still dominate targets and push for a top-4 fantasy finish.
Risk Factors
Fannin could lose significant volume to rookie WRs Concepcion and Boston. And this Browns offense has the downside to be the worst in the league.
If the volume and efficiency sink, Fannin could score as a low-end TE1 with limited fantasy impact.
