Why fantasy managers should take a chance on Jayden Higgins
Yahoo Sports fantasy analysts Matt Harmon and Justin Boone discuss why Jayden Higgins has a chance to be a sleeper for fantasy managers this season. Check out the full conversation on the "Yahoo Fantasy Forecast" - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
I think he's a really good sleeper, especially relative to where he's going in ADP right now, which right now consensus-wise is 155th overall, wide receiver 54.
Even if you have some questions about Jayden Higgins from a talent perspective, which I sorta kinda still do, but I'll, I'll put a pin in that and come back to it.
I think even if you do have questions about, like, what's the ceiling of this player, this is a really good value to get this guy, and I think there's a couple of different reasons here why I think that's the case.
One of my biggest questions with Higgins, Boone, coming into the league I'm not sure where you stood on him as a prospect.
But coming into the league for me, one of the things I just kind of struggled with is that he's billed as one of these big, prototypical X receiver body types.
That's what he played, in, at Iowa State as a, as a collegiate player across from his now still current teammate, Jalen Noel.
He was that big-bodied outside, you know, X receiver, on-ball work.
He did a little bit of that in Houston in year one, especially when Nico Collins missed time, which I think sorta skews his sample overall.
Like when I went in and charted him for his rookie season, he did still take more snaps outside and on the ball than you, you kinda would want.
That being said, the more that he played and the more when him and Nico Collins were on the field together, he played a lot more Z receiver as a bigger movement player.
And the routes that you would typically want from that Z receiver, you know, big post routes, crossing routes, dig routes, out routes, you know, even some of the quicker routes as well, he did separate pretty well there.
Overall, I still think, you know, from a vertical standpoint, he probably doesn't have that gear to pull away.
Sometimes he'll get stuck at the top of routes.
But if you just think about him as kind of a really interesting bigger-bodied Z receiver, who I, I do think will kick into the slot a good bit this year too, especially with Jalen Noel, who I, I do sort of really like.
I think is a very fine sleeper in his own right.
The fact that he's not practicing yet, he's been on the NFI list with a finger injury.
GM Nick Casario was kind of coy about what his timeline was.
Could be, could be any time he comes off the list, could be a couple of weeks.
We'll see about that.
But the fact that he's not been in camp, they're actually experimenting, a little bit from what I've heard with Jayden Higgins as that bigger slot possession receiver as well.
So this is just a guy I think when you think about the Houston Texans receiver room, it's Nico Collins and everybody else kinda orbits around him.
I think I'm warming up to Higgins potentially being that clear number two receiver who likely has a better chance at playing a full snap share than a guy certainly like Tank Dell coming off injury or even, even Jalen Noel
