Cleveland Browns training camp 2026: TE and FB preview, who replaces David Njoku?
Next up on our training camp preview is the tight end position. There are fix tight ends on the roster, but after the departure of David Njoku , all we really have confidence in is Harold Fannin , who had an outstanding rookie season. Who is the next man up, though? We also check out the team’s fullback candidates heading into camp. Height: 6-4 | Weight: 241 lbs | Age: 22 Experience: 2 years | College: Bowling Green Browns fans are expecting big things from Harold Fannin this year. After his impressive rookie season with 731 yards receiving, fans are predicting him to be in the 800-1,000 yard receiving range. For some of the league’s elite tight ends, that’s not too far-fetched. In fact, Travis Kelce has done it all 11 seasons he’s been in the NFL. However, David Njoku , who was viewed as an explosive receiving tight end for Cleveland, only surpassed 800 yards once in his 9 years with the team. It’s easy to jump to that being more indicative of the Browns’ quarterback situation as opposed to the talent of the tight end himself. Nonetheless, the most important part here is that Fannin is viewed as a big-time weapon for this offense. As a rookie, he showed a nice mix of acrobatic catches and the strength to generate yards after the catch that didn’t seem like they were even there. If there’s one negative on his receiving game as a rookie, it would be that, in my opinion, he sometimes dropped the easy ones. To grow his game over time, he’ll need to be a better in-line blocking tight end. It took Njoku a few years to get to that point. For now, we’ll see how Todd Monken’s offense utilizes Fannin. Will he be kept in the slot more often like he was as a rookie, with one of the other guys on the depth chart taking on a heavier blocking role? Final Roster Odds: 100% Height: 6-4 | Weight: 250 lbs | Age: 26 Experience: 4 years | College: Wake Forest I usually try to have a loose ranking in these previews for how the depth chart or competitions may unfold, but that isn’t true for the tight end position from the second spot onward. The backup roles after Harold Fannin are wide open. But let’s try to focus back in on Blake Whiteheart here. Whiteheart was an undrafted free agent with the Arizona Cardinals in 2023, but didn’t make their roster at the end of camp in 2024. The Browns added him, and he was off-and-on the team’s practice squad that year before being a backup tight end in 2025. He had maybe one semi-memorable catch in two years with Cleveland, having 8 catches for 55 yards and 1 touchdown. He also contributed 10 tackles on special teams last year. Final Roster Odds: 40% Height: 6-4 | Weight: 245 lbs | Age: 28 Experience: 6 years | College: Nebraska Jack Stoll was an undrafted free agent in 2021, and spent the first three years of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles . After that, he’s tried to find a home with the Giants, Dolphins, and Saints . He is not much of a receiving tight end — last year with the Saints, he started 4 games, but had 6 catches for 46 yards and 1 touchdown. Prior to that, his highest receiving totals was in 2022, when he had 11 catches for 123 yards. Stoll has been relied on as a blocking tight end, and the expectation is that he’ll fill that same void in Cleveland. According to Pro Football Focus, Stoll was a Top-15 pass blocking tight end in 2025. It’s not unheard of for career blocking tight ends to see a bigger receiving role, but we’re assuming he won’t be the complementary receiving tight end to Harold Fannin — but he could be the lead candidate for the blocking role. Final Roster Odds: 75% Height: 6-5 | Weight: 250 lbs | Age: 24 Experience: Rookie | College: Cincinnati If there’s a top candidate for the complementary receiving tight end, it might be rookie Joe Royer . He finished out his college career with Cincinnati, but played several seasons at Ohio State, so many fans will be familiar with him. Taken in the fifth round of this year’s draft , Dane Brugler had him as the 12th-ran [... truncated ...]
