Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr. is making an All-American case

After career outings at Penn State and Texas A&M, Fannin leads all tight ends in receiving yards despite playing just three games.

What’s the No. 1 rebuttal against putting MAC players on All-American ballots?

“Well, look at the competition he faced on a weekly basis. Is he putting up those numbers against top 25 teams?”

In the case of Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr., yes, absolutely, he is.

Through the first four weeks of the season, Fannin has established himself as the best tight end in all of college football, and he’s on an All-American pace. Fannin currently leads all FBS tight ends in receptions (25) and receiving yards (349), tied for 20th and 19th in those categories among all players nationally. Also, most players above him already played four games, while Bowling Green has only played three due to an early bye week.

Fannin’s best two outings transpired in 100,000+ seat mega stadiums, churning out yardage in the hostile environments of Beaver Stadium and Kyle Field. After jump-starting his season with a solid 6-catch, 67-yard showing against an outmatched FCS team in Fordham, Fannin shattered his career-high in Week 2 against Penn State. The 2023 First Team All-MAC tight end shredded a Nittany Lion defense to an extent nobody else has this year, posting 137 receiving yards and a touchdown on 11 receptions — and his ability to get open was the key reason Bowling Green manufactured a double-digit first half lead. The Falcons ultimately fell 34-27 to the heavily-favored Nittany Lions, but Fannin didn’t make it easy despite Penn State’s defense focusing on him all game.

After a bye week, Fannin traveled to SEC country to wreak havoc on a Texas A&M defense which stifled Notre Dame to 158 passing yards total in Week 1. The 6’4”, 230 pound tight end didn’t get the memo about the Aggies blanketing Notre Dame’s receivers and he torched that defense with 145 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions in a 26-20 defeat. Fannin’s career-high stat-line would have escalated to an even more astounding level if his second quarter touchdown wasn’t revoked due to an unnecessary holding penalty. He also found openings in the end zone in the late third quarter and in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, but off-target passes derailed both touchdown scenarios.

Even with those could-have-beens, Fannin’s performance in College Station was exceptional. After Bowling Green notched just three first half points, the tight end ignited the offense in one play. On the first snap of the third quarter, Fannin found a gaping hole in the coverage and hauled in a downfield over-the-shoulder catch. His work wasn’t done just yet, as he maneuvered through several defenders en route to a 65-yard touchdown — serving as the longest catch of his career.

Getting open on screens and deep balls alike, making contested catches, hurdling defenders, navigating in space, blocking — nearly everything in his arsenal has looked spectacular in 2024. But Bowling Green hasn’t even unleashed all of Fannin’s abilities yet. The past two seasons, the tight end served as their short-yardage specialist, inserted into the backfield to convert 3rd and short and 4th and short situations. He totaled 10 rushing attempts in 2022 and 11 in 2023, accumulating four touchdowns as a rusher across that span.

If the junior sustains this torrid pace in MAC play, the All-American selectors have no choice but to take notice, because what is the excuse? He already proved his merit in back-to-back games, piling on the eye-opening numbers against ranked Penn State and Texas A&M teams while looking like the best player on the field at times. Fannin is also making a strong case for the John Mackey Award, given annually to the nation’s top tight end, which has never landed in the hands of a MAC player since its inception in 2000.

Fannin’s past two outings have certainly etched his name onto NFL Draft boards as well, and now the entire college football universe should be on standby to see what the next nine games and counting have in store.