The Cleveland Browns have been praised for their performance in the last two drafts, and one of the most exciting players in the young core Cleveland built is Harold Fannin Jr. The tight end was selected in the third round of the 2025 draft and immediately established himself as the Browns’ most reliable weapon during his rookie season.
Fannin played in 16 games and caught 72 passes for 731 yards and six touchdowns, while rushing in another touchdown. He also set a Browns record for most receptions by a rookie, and established himself as an important building block for a new era in Cleveland.
League-wide, Fannin has been recognized as a reason for hope for the Browns, but he’s also getting the kind of dismissal that good players in Cleveland have to deal with. That was evident in CBS Sports’ recent ranking of the top 25 NFL players 25 or under. Fannin, who turns 22 years old on July 20, didn’t make the list.
The promising tight end didn’t even make the “toughest cuts” section of the list. It’d be easy to just chalk this up to there being so many talented young players in the NFL, but Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland was ranked 25th on the list. Both Fannin and Indianapolis Colts tight end Tyler Warren had more productive seasons than fellow 2025 draftee Loveland, but the Bears’ weapon got the nod over both.
The likely reason is team success, and Cleveland fans unfortunately know that it’s easy for good players to be overlooked when the team isn’t winning enough games.
Bears tight end Colston Loveland ranked ahead of Browns’ Harold Fannin Jr.
Just recently, an anonymous NFL personnel evaluator argued that Browns corner Denzel Ward would be the talk of the NFL if he played for a team like the Kansas City Chiefs or the New England Patriots. It’s easy for Cleveland fans to agree with that take because they have witnessed multiple really good players not get the credit they deserve due to the team not being able to figure things out.
It’d be a shame if Fannin, and the new group of talented Browns players, had to endure this same fate. The hope is that this group will form the core that turns things around and makes Cleveland a perennial contender. In addition to Fannin, the Browns added a lot of really good young players in the last two years, so the future looks bright.
If Fannin and this young core can get the franchise to those brighter days, everyone in Cleveland should start getting the recognition they deserve.
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