It’s been a rough year for Tight End production overall with even the top options struggling to consistently produce points. Trey McBride was one of the top tight ends taken in most fantasy football drafts, but he’ll be sidelined for Week 4 due to a concussion. In his place, should you consider his backup Elijah Higgins ($3,100) as a fantasy starting option? Let’s take a look:
The game between the Commanders and Cardinals in Arizona has an over/under of 50, which is the highest over/under of any game in Week 4. McBride has averaged 7.0 targets per game and totaled 122 receiving yards. With those targets available and points being scored, several of the Cardinals should get fantasy boosts.
No team in the NFL has given up more fantasy points to opposing wide receivers, so Marvin Harrison Jr. ($7,500) should be set up for another monster game if his quad doesn’t slow him down. Greg Dortch ($4,300) and Michael Wilson ($4,200) could also be more invovled as value plays.
At tight end, though, Higgins will be the next man up. Higgins is a second-year player out of Stanford. The Dolphins snagged him in the sixth round of last year’s draft and the Cardinals claimed him off waivers before last season. Higgins played receiver in college and had 119 receptions for 1,380 yards and six touchdowns. He’s a little on the smaller side, but he should be an able pass-catcher in McBride’s spot.
In the first three weeks of the season, Higgins has caught all four of the passes thrown his way for a total of 41 yards. He’ll need to step up even more this week, though, since he’ll have to help fill in for McBride.
While I wouldn’t start Higgins over a more established top-10 TE in season-long fantasy, he does have a very high ceiling for a player who is only $3,100 in DFS contests this week, highlighted by the NFL $3.25M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].
The Cardinals’ system under Kyler Murray ($6,800) and coach Jonathan Gannon focuses enough on the tight end spot to make Higgins a solid scoop-and-start replacement for McBride from your waiver wire. In such a fantasy-friendly game environment, he has a high ceiling even though he’s relatively unproven.
Higgins is only +175 to find the end zone this week for the Cardinals, who are currently 3.5-point favorites against the visiting Commanders.
The Crown Is Yours: Sign up for DraftKings and experience the ultimate host for games and betting experiences!
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
