Harold Fannin Jr.
Fannin is Cleveland's every-down tight end and a steady pass-game piece, but his target volume has been uneven through seven games.
Role
He plays nearly every snap. Week 5 vs the Jets: 63 of 68 snaps (92.6%) and 38 routes (Draft Sharks). Week 6 vs the Ravens: an 88.9% snap share but a 10% target share (FantasyData). Through seven games he has 39 targets and a 25-257-3 line (CBS Sports). His targets run about five per game, against 6.5 last season (Yahoo). In Week 7 he was second on the team in targets, catches and yards (Draft Sharks). Rookie WRs KC Concepcion Jr. and Denzel Boston compete for targets (FantasyData). Deshaun Watson is the quarterback. I did not find a depth chart or a full team target-share table.
He is on the field almost every play with a very high route rate, so volume should return. Watson has fed him more as the season has gone on, including 9 targets and a 91-yard game in Week 7 that ended with a roughly 30-yard catch-and-run to set up the winning field goal. Njoku is gone, and ESPN's preseason outlook cited a path to a 22% target share, which he had as a rookie. Draft Sharks had him sixth among tight ends in PPR points heading into Week 8.
The per-target production is down, at 8.7 yards per catch. He had only five catches on 12 targets for 40 yards over the three games before Tennessee, and he has just one touchdown-free stretch of real volume since Week 3. The offense is low-output, with 155 passing yards against the Jets. Two rookie receivers are taking a share of the targets. Draft Sharks says not to call Week 7 a rebound yet.
Where analysts split
Whether the Week 7 target spike is a lasting rebound or noise in a pass offense that has often been thin. The snaps are not in dispute. The question is whether Watson and the rookie WRs leave Fannin about 5 targets a game or closer to the 8 to 9 he saw in his two best games.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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