Tee Higgins fell out of the first round of April’s draft, though just barely as the 33rd overall pick to the Cincinnati Bengals. From a fantasy football perspective, the future looked brighter for him than 2020 on its own.
Higgins barely played in Week 1 (15 snaps-22 percent share). But an uptick came in Week 2 (60 snaps-65 percent share), and he has followed with 57 (79 percent share), 43 (57 percent share) and 54 snaps (81 percent share) since.
Here are Higgins’ stat lines and fantasy finishes in Week 2-Week 5 (0.5-point PPR).
Week 2: 3 receptions for 35 yards (six targets)-WR77
Week 3: 5 receptions for 40 yards, two touchdowns (nine targets)-WR13
Week 4: 4 receptions for 77 yards (seven targets), 13 rushing yards-WR35
Week 5: 4 receptions for 62 yards (eight targets)-WR42
A.J. Green suffered a hamstring injury in Week 5, so that provides context to Higgins’ season-high snap share. But narrowing to Week 3 and Week 4, Higgins had 16 targets to Green’s 11 in those games. Besides any time he might miss with his hamstring issue, Green is also a candidate to be traded by the upcoming deadline.
Tee Higgins Has Promising Fantasy Outlook
In Week 6 the Bengals will play the Indianapolis Colts, who are a top-10 fantasy defense against wide receivers. However, they have allowed a touchdown to the position in three of their five games.
Here are Cincinnati’s opponents after that, and where they entered Week 5 in fantasy points allowed to wide receivers (Yahoo! 0.5-point PPR). As I write this, the Tennessee Titans (12th most points allowed to wide receivers) and Buffalo Bills (11th-most) are playing Tuesday night to wrap up Week 5.
Week 7: Cleveland Browns-3rd-most
Week 8: Tennessee Titans-12th-most
Week 9: Bye
Week 10: Pittsburgh Steelers-6th-most
Week 11: Washington-2nd-fewest
Week 12: New York Giants-13th most
Week 13: Miami Dolphins-8th-most
Week 14: Dallas Cowboys-2nd-most
Week 15: Pittsburgh Steelers-6th-most
Week 16: Houston Texans-14th-fewest
Even allowing for how the fantasy points-against rankings will adjust when Week 5 is complete, only two of the Bengals next nine opponents aren’t in the bottom half of the league against wide receiver. The two exceptions, Washington and Houston, are hardly intimidating matchups.
Higgins has become a flex play in fantasy over the last few weeks, and he’s in that WR3/flex territory again for the matchup against the Colts in Week 6. But as he renders Green irrelevant, Higgins is in line for a prominent role over a long run of good matchups. WR3 looks like the floor from Week 7 right through to Week 16, with multiple potential WR1/WR2 finishes lined up for him.
Higgins is going to see another ownership boost this week once initial waivers clear. But as of Tuesday afternoon he’s owned in 41.8 percent of ESPN leagues, and 53 percent of Yahoo! leagues. With the potential he has over the rest of the season, he’s a priority add in all leagues.
