Higgins ($10,000 for Showdown) has had a lackluster start to his season, averaging just 8.7 FPTS per game, making him the No.47 scoring wide receiver for fantasy football. That being said, Higgins’ modest production has mostly been a product of poor quarterback play for the Bengals with Joe Burrow (toe) sidelined. Higgins showed some signs of improvement this past Sunday vs. the Packers with Joe Flacco under center for the first time this season, after Cincinnati acquired the quarterback from the Browns last week.
With Flacco at quarterback vs. Green Bay, Higgins caught five of his eight targets for 62 yards (11.1 FPTS), which was a decent performance in this brutal spot, as the Packers are giving up the fewest yards per pass this season (5.1). With Flacco starting, Higgins caught 63% of his targets, which is a huge improvement from the low 46.4% catch rate he averaged in his first five games of the season. Most importantly, Higgins’ usage was encouraging, with him handling a 22.9% target share, including one red zone target and one target over 20 yards.
The Bengals threw the ball 74.2% of the time in Flacco’s first start and they should be forced to air it out again this Thursday vs. the Steelers, with Cincinnati being a 5.5-point underdog for this AFC North matchup on DraftKings Sportsbook. Pittsburgh has been solid against the pass this season, giving up the 14th-fewest yards per pass (6.4), but Higgins has been great against the division rival throughout his career, averaging 19.3 FPTS per game in nine matchups with the Steelers.
With some newfound hope for the Bengals’ passing game with Flacco at quarterback, Higgins could be in store for his best performance of the season Thursday night and he is a solid WR3/FLEX play for season-long leagues.
