How good can Tee Higgins be?

[Whatever]

(04-12-2021, 07:12 PM)Murdock2420 Wrote: In an effort to find new Bengal topics to discuss as well as being a Clemson homer myself, wanted to have a real discussion about just how good Higgins can become.

Let's remember the stats from year 1:

67 rec 908 yards 13.6 yards per rec 6 TDs

Historically, WRs take the first year to adjust and then start to improve, there have been exceptions such as Justin Jefferson last season, and even A.J. in his first year.

But normally, you see a rookie WR start a little slow as they adjust to the game speed and then things start to click mid season and into year two.

For example, compare Higgins stat line to this. 58 rec, 900 yards, 7 TDs. Those are the numbers of DK Metcalf in his first year before he went off for 1300 yards this year.

Things to consider in Higgins favor:

Burrow wasn't here all season for him and he still had a 900 yard season.

He didn't play week one and had only a single target in the season finale. So, 67 and 908 was in 14 games.


Things that are cause for concern:

While he ran a 4.43 40 at this Pro Day, he didn't show break away speed on the field last season.

Route running still needs to improve.


So, what are your expectations for Tee? What is his ceiling?

Tee ran an official 4.54 at his Pro Day.  I think the 4.43 was someone's bad hand time.

He also played 15 snaps on offense in week 1, so he did play.

He has great hands and is good with contested catches, but struggles to get separation.  That's the big reason why he fell off after Burrow went down, as Allen simply doesn't have the ability to thread the needle like Burrow can.  He's also good at generating some extra yards after the catch.  He's not a guy that's going to make a bunch of guys miss and take it to the house, but he'll get you 4-5 yards of YAC consistently, which can be the difference between moving the chains or sending in the punter.  He's agile, especially for his size, but lacks burst.  He will really need to become a great technical route runner to generate separation given his lack of speed and burst.  Ball security is an issue, though.

At the end of the day, I think his best fit is as a high end #2.  I'll catch heat for that, but his lack of burst and top end speed are going to keep him from being a high end #1.  The only Top 10 WR from this last year to not officially clock in the sub 4.5 range was Davonte Adams at 4.51, which is right on the edge.  If he polishes up his route running, I think he will dominate CB2's in single coverage, but I don't see him being able to win against the consistent double teams and/or top CB's he'll see as a WR1.