Cleveland Browns 2026 Training Camp Previews: Tight Ends
Harold Fannin Jr. looks to cement his stardom, but the Cleveland Browns must find a reliable second option to master Todd Monken's offense.
Video Transcript
The Browns tight end room, of course, is headlined by Harold Fannin Jr., who looks like a star in the making after leading the team last year in receiving and being second in touchdown score behind only Quinshon Judkins, but having the most receiving touchdowns.
He looks poised to take more steps in year two, continue his ascent to stardom in the NFL, and there should be a lot to be excited about with him.
But I do think that the biggest question with the Browns tight end group entering training camp looks beyond Harold Fannin Jr. And asks whether or not the Browns can find sort of a viable number two option to complement him in this offense behind him.
And as far as what that looks like, well, I think first and foremost, it's important to remember that in Baltimore, Todd Monken had both Mark Andrews and Isaiah likely lining up on the field at the same time together on multiple occasions.
That was a pretty constant thing from their offense.
He found value in having these unique personnel groupings that included multiple tight ends, included multiple running backs, and could sort of make the most of the talents and the players that they had on the roster.
I think he wants to sort of replicate that to a degree here.
So if Fannin is, in this case, your Mark Andrews, it's about finding who the complement to that is and who the secondary person can be for this group as a whole, right?
There's a number of options here.
Joe Royer looks poised to be a solid pass catcher at the next level, even as a day three pick.
I think maybe Blake Whiteheart can find more success in Todd Monken's offense than he did in Kevin Stefanski's.
You wonder about Jack Stolen and how effective he can be in the pass game.
He's more of a blocking tight end, but maybe that's the perfect complement to what Fannin's skill set is and as one of the go-to targets in this offense.
And then even Carson Ryan, who is going to be competing for the starting fullback job as well, he might have a chance to solidify that role and be sort of a tight end fullback H-back that can line up really anywhere in the backfield or on the line of scrimmage and be that weapon.
But figuring that out is going to be the biggest question this group faces.
I think a successful or best-case scenario sees Fannin build upon what he started last year in his rookie season and continue to break out into becoming a star and the Browns settling in and finding somebody to complement him at the tight end spot while the quarterbacks continue to turn to these guys.
And I do think there's a world where this team lives a lot in those multiple tight end and multiple running back sets just to help the quarterbacks out because I don't know that the quarterback play is going to be up to par to lead the offense or carry the offense.
They're going to have to take advantage of the weapons and the players that they have to boost up what this offense has a chance to do.
