A salute to Harold Fannin Jr. - the nation's best tight end

I mentioned Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr. a few times on the site this season, so it's only fitting he finally gets his own post after the year he just had. Fannin came into 2024 as a player people had their eyes on after his stellar sophomore campaign (44 catches, 623 yards, six TD). He's leaving 2024 with one of the greatest tight end seasons in FBS history, the MAC Player of the Year award, and a potential Mackey Award as the nation's best tight end.

The Canton, Ohio native finished the regular season with 100 catches for 1,342 yards and nine touchdowns. If that seems like a lot for a tight end, it's because it is! The yards are the most by any TE in a regular season in FBS history, and second when you factor in bowl games. He's only 11 yards from breaking the all-time record Texas Tech's Jace Amaro set in 2013, which he'll obliterate if he decides to play in Bowling Green's bowl game.

Even looking beyond just other tight ends, Fannin's season was just as dominant as any wide receiver's in the country. His 100 catches and 1,342 yards were both good for second nationally:

He was named a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist - the first tight end to earn that distinction since Florida's Kyle Pitts in 2020. I'm just a random guy who runs a college football website and cuts highlights, but I still can't believe he didn't make the cut as a finalist. He not only had the pure receiving triple-crown numbers (yards, catches, touchdowns), but led all pass-catchers in broken tackles (31) while finishing second in first downs (64) and yards after catch (750). However you want to measure it, Fannin just produced arguably the best season of any tight end in college football history. If my words aren't enough to sway you, here's video proof: