There was no surprise in the Bengals' first round selection of Joe Burrow. You can't say the same for their second round pick. They kicked off the second round by selecting Tee Higgins, a wide receiver out of Clemson.
The first thing I noticed when watching Higgins' college tape is that he's that dude when the ball is in the air. Randy Moss could make an entire "You got Mossed" television series out of Higgins' highlight reel. Of course, the flip side of that is it's a good indicator of Higgins' separation that a lot of his catches came in traffic. Higgins isn't particularly fast and he isn't an elite route runner either.
While he may not be the most gifted receiver in this class, he did produce more than 2,100 receiving yards and 26 touchdowns in his final two years at Clemson. If nothing else, Higgins' aggressiveness at the catch point should make him a candidate to help in the red zone right away.
The fit in Cincinnati is an odd one. Burrow certainly provides plenty of upside, but the Bengals are already stacked at wide receiver. A.J. Green is a No. 1 receiver when healthy and Tyler Boyd is one of the better No. 2s in the league. John Ross still has plenty of upside and Auden Tate is pretty good as a No. 3 whenever Ross is unavailable.
That depth leads me to believe one of a few things is going on here — either A.J. Green is on the move in a trade, the Bengals are giving up on John Ross staying healthy, or Higgins will be given a year to develop before the team lets Green walk.
Until someone is removed from the equation, it's really hard to see how Higgins has any impact at all. He could displace Tate, but even then he's an injury away from being the No. 3 receiver. For that reason, I'm only drafting Higgins at the very end of the draft as an upside bench option.
In the event that Green is dealt, Higgins could become very interesting as a potential 1B to Tyler Boyd. It wouldn't be hard to find him 100 targets if he beat Ross out in camp or Ross succumbed to injury again. In that scenario, Higgins might sneak into the back end of the single digit rounds.
In Dynasty, Higgins is worth a second round rookie pick. He's not a top 50 Dynasty receiver for me, but he's more valuable in leagues that have a taxi squad. Higgins does have top-15 upside in the future if he becomes the No. 1 receiver for Joe Burrow. And his draft capital makes it seem like the Bengals believe that's possible. First, he needs to improve as a receiver, then he needs some of the better receivers to get out of his way.
If Green does get dealt, he could absolutely gain value. But as long as he's on the Bengals, I wouldn't expect Higgins to affect his value. The same mostly goes for Boyd. Ross is a different story. This pick puts a ding in his Fantasy value because even when Green leaves he'll have to fight for targets. It's not hard to imagine Ross on Dynasty waiver wires at some point in 2020.
Which players are poised for breakouts, which sleepers do you need to jump on, and which busts should you avoid at all costs in your Fantasy football league? Visit SportsLine now to get early rankings, plus see which WR is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big time last season.
