Who Should I Start? AJ Barner or Harold Fannin Jr.

Monday, January 26, 12:57 PM

Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner has been very quiet in the team's two playoff wins, as he caught just two of his three targets for 13 yards in Sunday's 31-27 win over the division-rival Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship. It was better than Barner's donut for fantasy managers in the blowout win over the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round, but it still was a disappointment. Quarterback Sam Darnold targeted Barner only three times among his 36 pass attempts on the day in a game that featured plenty of offense on both sides. The 23-year-old second-year tight end was the TE14 in half-PPR scoring during the regular season, catching 52 of his 68 targets for 519 yards and six touchdowns, and he remains mostly reliant on finding the end zone for fantasy production. For the Super Bowl in two weeks, Barner could face competition for targets from rookie Elijah Arroyo, who was a healthy scratch on Sunday after coming off Injured Reserve last week.

Monday, February 9, 3:15 PM

All signs are pointing toward Cleveland Browns tight end Harold Fannin Jr. being the team's No. 1 pass-catching tight end again in 2026 after fellow TE David Njoku announced on Monday that he's not expecting to re-sign with the team in free agency this offseason. Fannin, 21, surprisingly led Cleveland in receiving in 2025 after the team selected him in the third round out of Bowling Green. The 6-foot-4, 241-pounder hauled in 72 of his 107 targets for 731 yards and six touchdowns in 16 games played, which made him the TE5 overall in half-PPR scoring. Fannin did it all despite a less-than-ideal situation at quarterback, too, which makes his rookie campaign even that much more impressive. The Browns' QB picture won't look all that much better going into next year, but Fannin should maintain TE1 value in fantasy as a key piece of the offense in his sophomore season.