At 2-6 coming out of the team’s bye week, the Browns are not entirely toasted in this NFL season, not with a subpar AFC North, nine games yet to play and, the hope is, improvement coming from quarterback Dillon Gabriel. But if Cleveland were to lose on Sunday in New York, where the Jets are 1-7 having given up on the short term with two white-flag trades, then, well, even the most optimistic Browns backers would have to fold and look to 2026.
And while the Jets should provide little resistance, there’s not much about this Browns team to makes fans think Cleveland should be penciled in as a favorite over anyone. With that in mind, the Browns had better hope to be as close to 100%, health-wise, as possible on Sunday. Of special significance: rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr.
Fannin has been dealing with a hamstring injury and was limited in practice all week. He’s questionable for the Jets game, and much could hinge on him being active.
Browns’ Harold Fannin Jr. a Key in Passing Game
That’s especially clear after a gander at the stats from the advanced numbers site TruMedia, cited by Browns beat writer Zac Jackson of The Athletic. As Jackson wrote on Twitter/X:
- “Dillon Gabriel when targeting TEs
- 73.5% completions
- 109 passer rtg
- 6.7 yards per attempt
- “When targeting WRs
- 42.4% completions
- 48.1 passer rtg
- 4.3 yards per attempt”
Jackson added, “Fannin’s availability looms large!”
Indeed, Fannin has had a breakout season as a rookie, and since Gabriel has taken over as quarterback, he has caught 21 passes for 192 yards in four games. That means a quarter of Gabriel’s completions have gone to Fannin since he became the starter in Cleveland, as well as 28% of his yardage.
Browns, Dillon Gabriel Hoping to Get Jerry Jeudy Going
Ideally, those numbers from Dillon Gabriel will change, and he will do a better job of finding and hitting his wide receivers, without giving up the efficiency he has shown with his tight ends. That was a major topic of discussion throughout the week at the Browns’ practices, as concerns about the lack of production from Jerry Jeudy–who had zero targets and zero catches in Week 8–and wide receivers in general ran high.
Said Gabriel about Jeudy: “We believe in Jerry, believe in all our guys, and we’ll continue to attack that. Plays within a game, they happen, you know what I mean? And you got to continue to work through them, but I have ultimate belief in Jerry and all our guys.”
Dillon Gabriel Struggling to Throw Downfield
One of the big numbers the Browns need to change is Gabriel’s downfield stats–he is just 1-for-6 throwing beyond 20 yards, with an interception. The short-yardage efficiency to tight ends is fine but Gabriel has to give his receivers a chance downfield.
Gabriel did say that the problem is complicated.
“I think there’s just a mixture of things that have to come together to make that happen, that’s myself included,” he said. “But you know, like we’ve talked about before, explosives, they got to happen. There’s certain categories within a game that you have to win and explosives and you know, being really good on first and second down so that you’re in some third-and-manageables and moving the chain, sustaining drives.
“So that’ll all contribute to that, but no uncomfortability like that’s something that we work on and want to continue to emphasize.”
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