What a season it’s been for Tee Higgins. As things stand ahead of Week 8’s action, the Bengals standout is the WR10 on a per-game basis and clocks in as the overall WR11 despite having played one fewer game than much of the competition. He’s been excellent, but can fantasy football managers continue to pencil him in as a WR1?
Is Tee Higgins a WR1 for Week 8?
The idea of Tee Higgins has often been superior to the reality of having him on your fantasy team in the past. Injuries have been an issue for him throughout his career and he’s left plenty of games early, but when he’s healthy, he’s one of the game’s most underrated wideouts. This season, things do feel different for the 27-year-old.
Higgins has appeared in six games thus far, and frankly, it seems like he’s the Bengals’ top wideout at the moment ahead of superstar teammate Ja’Marr Chase. Higgins has caught 33 of his 50 targets for a team-best 571 receiving yards, also bringing in a pair of touchdowns. He leads the team in target share (22.8%), YPRR (2.96) and aDOT (13.98), accounting for a whopping 43.9% of the offense’s air yards. In fantasy football, he’s averaging 17.02 FPPG, 10th most among all wide receivers. He’s eclipsed 20 PPR points in three games, notching high marks of 21.00, 26.70 and 26.80 points, the latter of which came this past week. That was one of the two best outings of Higgins’ season, catching six-of-seven targets for 148 yards and a touchdown.
He heads into a Week 8 matchup against the Titans riding high. Should he be penciled in as a fantasy WR1 again, or is it best to temper expectations?
Higgins has been incredible for the most part, but maybe expect something closer to a mid-range WR2 rather than a top-12 finish against Tennessee. There are plenty of positives in his profile, sure. He’s been one of the league’s most efficient wideouts on a per-route basis and has produced an average of 95.2 receiving yards per game. He’s also seen a very lucrative role, earning that aforementioned 22.8% target share with 8.3 targets per game. The Bengals are one of the most pass-happy teams in the league, too, ranking second in PROE at 9.6%. They throw the ball plenty, even in neutral scripts.
The matchup is a solid one overall, too, at least in terms of fantasy wideout production. The Titans allow 35.8 FPPG to WRs, 10th most in the NFL. They allow the sixth-highest concentration of opposing targets to go to receivers and give up the fourth-most receptions (14.0) and sixth-most yards (175.6) per game to the position, too.
However, there are some slight knocks that may limit the ceiling for Higgins this week. One of those is that Tennessee gives up just 0.6 touchdowns per game to wideouts, tied for fourth fewest. The Titans have allowed just four touchdowns to the position in seven games, at that. Now, Higgins could still score, and he very well may with the Bengals favored by 10 points at home. Still, that’s also part of the equation this week. Cincinnati is heavily favored and the opponent has been one of the worst teams in the league this year, winning just once over their first seven games. A Titans offense that’s among the NFL’s most uninspiring units with an average of just 15.4 PPG isn’t likely to push the Bengals, meaning this could enter blowout territory quite quickly.
Higgins should still put forth a quality effort and obviously belongs in fantasy lineups. Just don’t expect another ceiling game in a matchup that may not be competitive whatsoever in the second half.
