Tee Higgins is someone I’d be inquiring about if I have a need at wide receiver going into Week 8. This has really been a lost first half of the season for the Bengals… they’re coming out of the bye now, and this is the target date that we’ve been putting on the calendar for Joe Burrow to be back to 100%. We should see more output out of this team moving forward - there was a point where we were viewing this offense as one of the best in the league, and there was a point a few weeks into this season where they were one of the worst offenses in the NFL. I’m expecting that to normalize.
You look at Higgins’ first two or three games of this season, and you see that he garnered a very healthy 24% target share AND led the team with 46% air yards share. He had that Top-5 finish in Week 2 just to remind you what he’s capable of… but finishing outside the Top-60 4 times this year really washed that out of everyone’s mind pretty damn fast. He had the rib injury that kept him out or limited his last two weeks before the bye, and despite that, he still ranks among the top-10 in end zone targets in the NFL.
Joe Burrow has been banged up, and he only gave Higgins a catchable ball on 54% of his targets. That number was at 78% last year according to Fantasy Life, and for that reason, I’m expecting that to normalize as well. He had nine WR2 finishes last year, plus three Top 5 finishes… I think he now has a good chance of being a very solid WR2 with upside the rest of the way. And the truth is, he’s just cheap right now. You look at the matchups down the stretch near playoff time - Pittsburgh in Week 12, Jacksonville, Indy, Minnesota, Pittsburgh again, and a potential shootout with the Chiefs - I’m buying.