Cleveland Browns training camp 2026: TE and FB preview, who replaces David Njoku?
· Yahoo Sports
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.
1. Harold Fannin – Starting TE
Height: 6-4 | Weight: 241 lbs | Age: 22
Experience: 2 years | College: Bowling Green
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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%
2. Blake Whiteheart – Backup TE
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%
3. Jack Stoll – Blocking TE
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%
4. Joe Royer – Rookie TE
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-ranked tight end prospect in this year’s class. He’s expected to make his mark as a receiver, not a blocker:
Royer is a smooth athlete for the position, with the impressive hands needed to easily adjust and frame the football, regardless of the placement. Although he is more of a one-speed receiver down the seam, he runs hard and has some giddy-up with the ball in his hands (only FBS tight end with multiple receptions of 60-plus yards in 2025). Though competitive as a blocker, his execution must improve for NFL coaches to trust him.
DBN’s Barry Shuck also wrote a couple articles about Royer this offseason. The first tells you everything you need to know about Royer’s background, while the other pumps up the possibility of him forming an explosive duo with Fannin.
Final Roster Odds: 90%
5. Carsen Ryan – Rookie FB/TE
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 255 lbs | Age: 22
Experience: Rookie | College: BYU
In the seventh round of the draft, the Browns selected Carsen Ryan. Two tight ends at the back of the draft? Or is there something else going on with Ryan?
He was the 18th-ranked tight end in this year’s draft class by Dane Brugler. He went to BYU for his final college season in hopes of getting more reps as a receiving tight end, and it paid off. Brugler praised his all-around game and didn’t summarize any weaknesses, which begs the question: why did he fall to the 7th round?
A surprising NFL combine snub, Ryan stands out in both phases as a receiver and blocker. He is an urgent, controlled route runner who feasts underneath against zone coverage, with reliable hands and some creativity after the catch. He is limited by some body stiffness and needs to do a better job with body position to win a crowd. As a blocker, he is both quick and physical with his inline duties to reach, cut off or get outside defenders.
I’ve seen some labels thrown out there that Monken might consider Ryan for the fullback position, considering his former experience as a running back. But with there not being a proven candidate at tight end, he has just as good of a chance as any to ascend the depth chart, even as a 7th round pick. On the same note, since his draft status wasn’t high to begin with, Cleveland is also in a position to where they can probably stash him on the practice squad. Barry Shuck also did a nice write-up on Ryan’s background here.
Final Roster Odds: 50%
6. Brenden Bates – Backup TE
Height: 6-5 | Weight: 255 lbs | Age: 26
Experience: 3 years | College: Kentucky
Brenden Bates has now had two stints with the Browns. He began his NFL career as an undrafted free agent in 2024 with the Bears, and then went to the Jets. Cleveland signed him at the end of 2024, and then spent half the season on the team’s practice squad before the Texans signed him. When he was waived, he then was re-signed by the Browns to their roster.
With the Browns last year, Bates started 3 games and had 2 catches for 25 yards. He’s lumped into the same group as Whiteheart and Stoll, and unfortunately he likely falls third in that group, so I’m expecting him more so to play a role on the third-team offense in camp.
Final Roster Odds: 25%
7. Michael Burton – Fullback
Height: 6-0 | Weight: 247 lbs | Age: 34
Experience: 12 years | College: Rutgers
Last, but not least, we have fullback Michael Burton on the team. If someone would’ve asked you, “Which player on the Browns’ roster has been in the league the longest,” you probably wouldn’t have guessed Burton (although that might be because you didn’t even know he was on the team). Burton has 12 years of NFL experience.
Originally a fifth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Lions, Burton has bounced around over the years with 2-3 year stints in Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans, Washington, Kansas City, and most recently Denver.
For 10 straight years, Burton had a regular gameday role with an NFL team. Then, right at the end of training camp in 2025, the Broncos placed him on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, ending his streak of action. We have to consider the fact that with the Ravens, Monken had veteran Patrick Ricard on offense and utilized him very often. That would explain the signing of Burton in the first place for Cleveland. As long as he’s recovered from his hamstring injury, his experience figures to have him in a favorable position to win a roster spot.
Final Roster Odds: 75%
In our poll question below, we’re asking who you think would be most likely to be the Browns’ No. 2 tight end on the depth chart.