Tee Higgins

[CJD]

(04-26-2020, 02:40 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Overall, I'm pretty happy with the Bengals draft.

There is one pick I'm a little mystified at, though. It's Tee Higgins. In my opinion, I think we already have this guy on the team. It's Auden Tate. Their measurables are almost IDENTICAL.  

Both are 76 inches tall. Both are 215+ pounds. Both ran around a 4.6 40 yard dash and both have an exact vertical of 31 inches. Both had an exact 20 yard shuttle of 4.5. They both have similar wing span and arm length. Athletically, they are the same person. Their games are almost identical. They both make plays by using their big bodies and elevating over defenders, not by getting incredible separation at the line.  

I'd be cool with the pick if Auden Tate wasn't on the team and he didn't show flashes last year - but he is and he did. He was my pick to have an even bigger breakout this year.

So all in all im a little disappointed with this pick. What does everyone else think?

They are the same height, but Tate is about 12 lbs heavier than Higgins. They did have the same vert, but AJ Green only had a 3 inch higher vert, so I am not really worried about any of the three of them in that regard. We see all 3 of them can go up and get it. Tee had a broad jump that was nearly a foot longer (112 vs 123) and Higgins arms are a bit longer (34" is the bench mark for elite arm length for a WR, and Higgins crosses it, but Tate does not). 

4.54 and 4.68 are both "around" a 4.6, but they're incredibly different speeds. I don't think they're close in speed at all, as Higgins is clearly faster both in drills and on the field.

I've seen reports that Higgins' 20 yard shuttle was 4.25, not 4.5. I'm actually kind of curious about this, because I went and looked after reading your post and this is what their twitter linked:


So did he run the 3 cone drill in 4.53 or did he run the 20 yard shuttle in 4.53? Because the former would be pretty remarkable and the latter would be disappointing, but not terrible, as Jerry Jeudy ran the same 20 yard shuttle time at the combine.

This article and this article  reference a 4.25 20 yard shuttle which is obviously phenomenal, but it's hard to find their references. Maybe this was the "unofficial" and the 4.53 is the official time, I dunno.

Regardless, he did do better than Tate, who ran a 4.58 at his pro day, but obviously the amount by which he beat Tate is dependent on which number, if any, is accurate.

But even if we cut past the athletic numbers, I think his game is far closer to Green than Tate. No one saw a star on tape with Tate. He was fine at Florida State, but never took over a game like Higgins or Green did in college. Higgins has significantly more wiggle, elusiveness and speed to his game.
If you watch Tate's college (or pro) plays, he never runs away from CBs, whereas Higgins does consistently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mos53ewWpyA

I just don't personally see the similarities, outside of "they both can get a jump ball."