Harold Fannin's TD catch brought the Browns to within 31-29 against Tennessee last week. It matches David Njoku for the team lead in receiving TDs. (Joshua Gunter/Cleveland.com)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Shedeur Sanders’ big game against Tennessee (364 passing yards, three TD passes, one TD scored) earned him the NFL rookie-of-the-week award. It overshadowed the best game so far of another Browns rookie, tight end Harold Fannin, who was one of the finalists for the weekly award.
Fannin cracked 100 yards receiving for the first time with an eight-catch (on 11 targets) day for 114 yards. He joined Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome as the only Browns rookie tight ends to have a 100-yard receiving game.
Still, the 100-yard benchmark was a long time coming for Fannin, who posted seven 100-yard games and one 200-yard game in his record-breaking 1,555-yard final season at Bowling Green.
“Yeah, it was rare if I didn’t get 100,” Fannin said with a laugh.
Fannin leads the Browns with 59 catches for 619 yards and co-leads with four receiving touchdowns. With eight catches, Fannin will break Kevin Johnson’s record of 66 for a Browns rookie.
“It's definitely dope, especially my rookie year, doing something like this,” Fannin said. “I wasn't really expecting anything coming into the season. So I guess I probably got to say it’s been better than expected. The record thing, I don’t know nothing about it. I really have no expectations like that.”
Other than sure hands, Fannin’s trademark has been running through tackles for extra yards.
“In the tight end room, we have a little rule -- don't get tackled by the first person. Other than that, I feel like I've always been this way,” he said.
“The guy’s a football player,” said offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. “I mean, from the day he came here and rookie minicamp, you watched him catch however many balls he did in training camp. He’s been an impressive rookie, I’ll say that. He doesn’t play like a rookie all the time. He makes a ton of plays for us. He’s competitive, he’s tough, he does a lot of stuff in the run game well for us. I’m excited for him and his future and the player that he’ll continue to be and grow into.”
David Njoku has taken Fannin under his wing since training camp and hosts Fannin for weekly film and wellness sessions.
“That's my guy,” Njoku said. “Seeing him ball out, it makes me so proud. Truly. It makes me want to do my job at a higher level so he can do his job at a higher level and we'll both be great.”
Receiver Jerry Jeudy said, “Harold is a very smart tight end that knows how to create separation and get open, and also is good in the run game. He’s a rookie but he don’t seem like a rookie by the way he understands the game and plays.”
Rookie update
No team is giving rookies more snap counts than the Browns. Here’s a rundown:
1. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger: 893 total. 774 defense, 119 special teams.
2. Tight end Harold Fannin: 741 total. 662 offense, 79 special teams.
3. Defensive tackle Mason Graham: 637 total. 571 defense, 66 special teams.
4. Receiver Isaiah Bond: 390 total. 383 offense, 7 special teams.
5. Running back Quinshon Judkins: 388 total. 388 offense, 0 special teams.
6. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel: 371 total. 371 offense, 0 special teams.
7. Running back Dylan Sampson: 264 total. 205 offense, 59 special teams.
8. Defensive tackle/fullback Adin Huntington: 216 total. 21 offense, 108 defense, 87 special teams.
9. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders: 202 total. 202 offense, 0 special teams.
10. Receiver Gage Larvadain: 189 total. 142 offense, 47 special teams.
Up and coming
Rees confirmed he interviewed for the Penn State head coach job last week. NFL.com reported the interview was conducted via video conference.
The Nittany Lions hired former Iowa State coach Matt Campbell. It wasn’t the first major college job Rees, 33, has been linked to, and it won’t be the last.
Rees’ experience working as offensive coordinator under two demanding college coaches – Brian Kelly at Notre Dame and Nick Saban at Alabama – established a good reputation before he joined the Browns in 2024.
“Look, some of those things are flattering and you listen as a competitor,” Rees said. “But … my focus is really how can we go score enough points to win a game. How can we put our young players, put our quarterback, put our offense in the right position to have success? How to lead our staff? That’s really where my focus is right now.”
So, what about the Michigan job, which just opened after the shocking firing of Sherrone Moore?
“I’m gonna just keep my focus here right now,” Rees said.
Brownie bits
The Browns have a lot of confidence in Luke Wypler, who takes over at center for injured Ethan Pocic (Achilles). Rees said, “He’s a guy that works really hard at it. He can be annoying. Wyp, he talks too much, but he’s into it, he loves it.” Joel Bitonio said, “Wypler’s a Jersey guy. There’s a little bit of quirkiness there, know what I mean? If we have a tee time for golf at 12, he’ll show up at 11:59. He’s like the younger brother that you have to put in his place every once in a while.” …
In training camp, Joe Flacco, 40, was the only quarterback of four who didn’t miss any practice time because of injury. Now Bitonio, 35, is the last starter standing on the offensive line. Each of the four main starters – Dawand Jones, Pocic, Wyatt Teller, Jack Conklin – have missed games because of injuries …
Nine players had a second DNP. They were Bitonio (knee, back), Conklin (concussion), Graham (rib), Huntington (quad), Njoku (knee), Sampson (calf, hand), Teller (calf), Cedric Tillman (concussion), Denzel Ward (calf).