The Cleveland Browns are off to an improbable 5-3 start, but Todd Monken's team is facing a big change ahead of Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints. Shedeur Sanders is likely to start at quarterback with Deshaun Watson in concussion protocol, according to Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot.
Watson, who's coming off consecutive Achilles tears and plenty of off-field controversy, has been surprisingly competent this season. His play has dipped over the last three weeks, however, as he's failed to throw a touchdown while taking a combined 14 sacks.
Now, Sanders is expected to step in with a much better crop of skill-position players than he dealt with last season. Rookies Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion have emerged as immediate impact receivers,
while Harold Fannin Jr. is showing more of the excellence he flashed in 2025.
Fannin is coming off his best game of the season, a 10-catch, 154-yard performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it's possible he can top that very soon. Here's why.
Shedeur Sanders makes Harold Fannin Jr. a fantasy football must-start
Along with the rapport Sanders and Fannin built as rookies, the stats point to this being a more fruitful connection than what we saw with Watson.
According to Fantasy Points, Sanders targets tight ends at a 31.9% clip since the start of 2025, a significantly higher rate than Watson's 22.5%. Fannin also averaged 14.6 fantasy points per game with Sanders in 2025 compared to 9.9 with any other quarterback.
Start Fannin with confidence this week.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Browns QB change makes 1 player fantasy football must-start
