2025 NFL Draft prospect profile – Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Bowling Green

Is Fannin the most versatile offensive weapon in the class?

One of the interesting features of the 2025 NFL Draft is the number of good players coming from unexpected locations.

Not only is it a testament to the work done by recruiting services and smaller schools to uncover talent, but it’s to NFL scouts putting in the work to evaluate small programs that might previously have been overlooked.

Harold Fannin Jr. might have gone to Bowling Green — hardly a football powerhouse — but he might also be one of the premier offensive weapons in this year’s draft. He’s incredibly versatile, contributing as a blocker and shining as a receiver from all over the Bowling Green offensive formation.

And while he isn’t big, nor an incredibly dynamic athlete, but he still racked up 1,555 yards and 10 touchdowns on 117 receptions. He’s a threat to all three levels and is also a very capable player with the ball in his hands.

Could Fannin Jr. be an X-factor for the New York Giants offense if the value lines up?

Prospect: Harold Fannin Jr. (0)
Games Watched: vs. Penn State (2024), vs. Toledo (2024), vs. Western Michigan (2024)

Measurables

Kent Lee Platte | RAS.Football

Strengths

Best traits

• Ball skills
• Route running
• Body control
• Quickness & agility
• Competitive toughness

Harold Fannin Jr. is an exceptionally versatile tight end prospect who lined up all over the Bowling Green offensive formation.

He took snaps at in-line and detached tight end, slot receiver, wide receiver, and H-back. His versatility is thanks to a 6-foot-3, 241-pound frame that, while not ideal for any one position, allows him to execute at a huge variety of positions. Fannin has enough size to play out of the backfield or as a tight end, while also having the quickness, agility, and body control to execute as a slot or wide receiver.

Fannin is a very savvy route runner who has an efficient release package, which allows him to quickly slip contact at the line of scrimmage and get into his routes with no wasted energy or movement. He runs a broad route tree and was used at all three levels. He’s a precise and savvy route runner who understands both coverage schemes and how route concepts attack them.

He does a great job of finding the open field as well as manipulating his routes to create separation. Fannin will bend his route stem, use a variety of head and body fakes, or press his stem into defenders before breaking – all to create separation opportunities at the top of his routes. Conversely, he also understands how to use his routes to create traffic to help his teammates.

Fannin has very good ball skills, doing a great job of locating and tracking the ball in the air, making adjustments to maximize his receiving window, and extending to pluck the ball away from his body. Fannin frames the catch well and has very soft hands to make tough catches in traffic.

He’s a dangerous player with the ball in his hands, with good vision, body control, and contact balance. Likewise, he’s big enough that he’s a problem for defensive backs to bring down one-on-one.

Fannin is best thought of as “functional” as a blocker. He isn’t overwhelming, but can do enough to “lose slow” around the line of scrimmage when he’s playing with good leverage and positioning. He shines, however, when blocking at the second level or in space on screens.

Weaknesses

Worst traits

• Long speed
• Size
• Play strength

While Fannin is an exceptionally versatile player, he might not have the ability to be a classic “Y” tight end in the NFL.

Fannin lacks ideal measurables at 6-foot-3, 241 pounds, and is a couple inches – and about 20 pounds – smaller than the “prototypical” tight end. He’s a competitive blocker and effective when used correctly, but NFL teams likely shouldn’t expect him to hold up when asked to block edge defenders as an in-line tight end.

Likewise, he doesn’t have the raw athleticism to be a true “match-up nightmare” at the NFL level.

Game Tape

(Note: I normally abstain from using highlights and instead use full game cuts to illustrate a prospect’s full game — good and bad, and how they play when the ball goes away from them. However, publicly available tape on Fannin is extremely scarce.)

Projection

Harold Fannin Jr. projects as an important and versatile offensive weapon at the NFL level.

Whether Fannin projects becomes a starter is almost irrelevant to his evaluation. He might not be on the field to take the first snap in the “standard” 11-personnel West Coast inspired offense. However, he can line up all over the field and be used to attack the defense in a huge variety of ways.

Teams that use a relatively high rate of 12-personnel or 21-personnel packages could find tremendous value in Fannin. He has the potential to be a very good player and a real headache for defenses if he lands with a team that allows him to play to his strengths.

Does he fit the Giants?
Probably not

Final Word: A very early Day 2 value