Who Should I Start? Isaiah Likely or Harold Fannin Jr.

Friday, May 30, 12:49 PM

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has high hopes for rising tight end Isaiah Likely as he enters the final year of his rookie deal in 2025. "I want to see [Likely] be an All-Pro," Harbaugh said . "That'd be my goal for him, and he's capable of it." The former fourth-rounder in 2022 has been the backup to Mark Andrews for much of his career, but that could be changing in 2025. Likely caught nine passes for 111 yards and a touchdown in the season opener a year ago, but he didn't have another 100-yard game the rest of the year. He ended the season with 42 catches, 477 yards and six touchdowns. In 49 total games with Baltimore, including 19 starts, Likely has 108 catches for 1,261 yards and 14 TDs. In 10 games that Andrews has missed due to injuries the last three years, he had 530 yards and seven TDs. If Andrews misses any more time in 2025, Likely will be a must-start TE1 on a weekly basis.

Tuesday, May 27, 1:26 PM

The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Lance Reisland suggests that the Cleveland Browns need rookie third-round tight end Harold Fannin Jr.'s big-play abilities in their offense in 2025. Fannin, who stands at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds, had a whopping 117 catches for 1,555 yards and 10 touchdowns in his final college season in 2024 at Bowling Green. He consistently created separation with elite route-running and reliable hands, but the question is whether Fannin can continue to do that consistently against better competition in the NFL. The 20-year-old has excellent yards-after-the catch skills, which the Browns desperately need, and is a matchup nightmare. There's a lot to like about Fannin's pure skills as a receiving tight end, but he's on the small side for a TE and will need to work on his blocking skills before he has any chance of unseating David Njoku as the team's primary pass-catching tight end.