Fantasy Football

Tee Higgins

WR - CIN

Height: 6-4

Weight: 210 lbs

Age: 24

College: Clemson

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2023 Season Outlooks

Higgins is clearly a big part of the Bengals passing game, but does he have a big enough job to warrant a top-30 pick in Fantasy drafts? Last year, Higgins averaged 13.8 PPR points per game (19th best among receivers) and logged six games with 15-plus Fantasy points and another four with 13-to-14 Fantasy points. That underwhelming consistency is only further concerning when you learn two of the six with 15-plus and two more of the 13-14 point variety came when teammate Ja'Marr Chase was inactive. In fact, since Chase entered the NFL in 2021, Higgins has 10 games with 15-plus PPR points when the two have played together. This doesn't make Higgins a bad Fantasy WR, but it does make reaching for him on Draft Day a potentially bad decision. He's worthy of a mid-Round 3 pick in PPR and a late Round 3 pick in non-PPR.

There’s a solid case to be made that Higgins would be the WR1 on over a dozen other NFL teams’ depth charts.
Even though teammate Ja’Marr Chase steals a sizable amount of the spotlight in Cincinnati, Higgins is a player that can be counted on for reliable production and a 1,000-yard season annually when healthy.
Invest in Higgins as a “set-and-forget” WR2 in your fantasy lineups.

What We Learned Last YearHiggins finished the 2022 season as the WR19 overall in PPR scoring with an average of 13.8 fantasy points per game. Since entering the league in 2020, the former second-round pick has been a model of consistency:2020: 108 targets, 67 catches, 908 receiving yards, 6 TDs, 12.2 PPR points per game (WR28 overall)2021: 110 targets, 74 catches, 1,091 receiving yards, 6 TDs, 15.6 PPR points per game (WR24 overall)2022: 109 targets, 74 catches, 1,029 receiving yards, 7 TDs, 13.8 PPR points per game (WR19 overall)Higgins has hovered around a 20% target share and a 30% air yards share on an annual basis.He’s never finished outside the top 20 in Pro Football Focus receiving grade among WRs who received 100+ targets in a given season.The only concern with Higgins is a recurring hamstring issue he’s dealt with since entering the league. It hasn’t caused him to miss significant time to date, but it significantly affected his weekly performances a year ago.Higgins tallied three top-5 fantasy finishes, five top-24 weekly finishes, but had four games in which various injuries caused him to disappear and finish outside of the top 80 WRs.
What to Expect in 2023He’ll continue to play second fiddle to teammate Ja’Marr Chase in the season ahead. This reality caps Higgins’ fantasy upside. He’s a reliable WR2 option for fantasy managers with occasional room to boom for more.However, if the injury bug were to bite Chase for any reason, we’ve seen the former Clemson product step up and deliver WR1-level performances. Here’s how Higgins performed among all WRs in 4 games without Chase in 2022 between Week 8 and Week 13:11th overall in PPR (75.1)9th in PPR points per game (18.8)16th in target share (26.7%)3rd in air yards share (46.4%)6th in receiving yards per game (92.8)

Consistency can be tough to find in the NFL, but Higgins' 2022 receiving line (74-1029-7 on 109 targets) was almost an exact replica to his 2021 line (74-1091-6 on 111 targets). It was a solid showing for Higgins, but it would've been even better had he not left three games early due to injury. In fact, if we eliminate those three games (which included a total of two targets), Higgins leaps to 11th among WRs in fantasy PPG (16.6) during his 13 full games. Higgins is 6-foot-4, so it's a bit surprising that he has yet to clear seven TDs in a season and that he only saw five end zone targets last season (46 WRs had more). Nonetheless, the 24-year-old is a big part of a high-scoring, pass-heavy Bengals' offense, which positions him as a good fantasy WR2.