Who Should I Start? Ja'Tavion Sanders or Harold Fannin Jr.

Sunday, December 28, 5:08 PM

Carolina Panthers tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders (ankle) suffered a broken ankle during Sunday's Week 17 loss against the Seattle Seahawks, according to head coach Dave Kanales. He will undergo surgery during the upcoming week. This injury will shut down Sanders for the final week of the regular season and presumably all of the playoffs, should Carolina qualify. He ends the year with just 29 catches for 190 yards and one touchdown through 13 games. It was a disappointing campaign for the tight end out of Texas, who showed promise as a rookie but evidently wasn't able to take a second-year leap in 2025. Tommy Tremble, Mitchell Evans, and James Mitchell will step up as the Panthers' top tight ends going forward.

Sunday, December 28, 8:42 PM

Cleveland Browns tight end Harold Fannin Jr. (groin) re-aggravated a pre-existing injury during Sunday's Week 17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He exited mid-game and later told Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal that he will undergo additional testing on Monday. The results of those medical tests should determine Fannin's exact diagnosis and whether he'll be able to play in next weekend's regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals. While it's a relatively meaningless game for both eliminated teams, Fannin noted that he played through the injury to start in Week 17, so it's fair to speculate that he might try to do the same in Week 18. His availability this Sunday, albeit short-lived, was useful for the Browns in their quest to take down Pittsburgh. Fannin maintained a larger role with David Njoku (knee) still sidelined, catching two passes for 30 yards and a touchdown. If active in Week 18, he'll rank as a mid-range TE1 with high-end upside.