Tee Higgins enters the 2022 season as one of the stand-out young wide receivers in the league. A second-round pick in the 2020 draft Higgins gets overlooked when it comes to his counterparts in that class. He finished 2021 as WR24 in total points but when it comes to points per game he finished as WR11. He enters 2022 as the number two option on a loaded Cincinnati Bengals offense trying to rebound from a loss in the Super Bowl. Here is a fantasy outlook on Tee Higgins going into the 2022 season.
2022 Fantasy Football Outlook: Tee Higgins
2021 Season Recap
Tee Higgins played in 14 games last season but missed three games due to a nagging shoulder injury. He finished the season with 74 catches for 1,091 yards and six touchdowns. All-pro Rookie of the Year receiver Ja’Marr Chase led the Bengals in all receiving categories. Chase (here is his fantasy outlook for 2022) was mainly used as a deep threat and the increased attention on Chase will only help Higgins going into this season. Although Chase led the Bengals in all categories, Higgins was the more consistent overall receiver. In games that Higgins and Chase both played they received the same amount of targets and Higgins had a higher target rate per route run. From weeks 5-17 after Higgins returned from injury he was WR9.
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2022 Outlook
Higgins enters the season yet again as an under-the-radar fantasy option due to the hype surrounding Ja’Marr Chase after his record-breaking rookie season. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was the most sacked quarterback in the league in 2021 as he was sacked 51 times.
Highest sack rates over expectation in 2021 after accounting for (time to) pressure, situation, defensive call and time to "action" (=throw, sack, scramble, throw away):
Joe Burrow
Baker Mayfield
Justin Fields
Zach Wilson
Ben Roethlisberger
Ryan Tannehill— Timo Riske (@PFF_Moo) April 21, 2022
According to statmuse Burrow was also in the middle of the league in total pass attempts with 520 on the season. The Bengals attempted to fix their sack problem by signing former Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Alex Cappa to a four-year deal. The Bengals also signed former Dallas Cowboys tackle La’el Collins to a three-year deal. These are major upgrades to an offensive line that desperately needs to perform better in 2022. The improved offensive line should help the number of pass attempts increase and allow the Bengals to not be forced to run the ball as much.
Burrow (here is his fantasy outlook for 2022) averaged 32.5 pass attempts per game in 2021. Just increasing that number by a couple of more attempts per game could make a huge difference. Burrow threw the ball 35+ times in six games last season. In those contests, Higgins averaged 19.4 fantasy points per game. Over the course of the season that would have put him at WR4 and tied with Justin Jefferson in points per game. The Bengals play an average schedule of defenses this season. And with the Cowboys, Bucs, Buffalo Bills, and Kansas City Chiefs on the schedule that should lead to some high-scoring games and increased targets for Higgins.
Average Draft Position
Tee Higgins’ current ADP sees him going as WR12 in the third round. At the moment this is excellent value given some of the receivers that are going ahead of him. CeeDee Lamb is currently going 15 spots higher than Higgins. Getting Higgins an entire round later is great value given the fact that Higgins finished higher than Lamb last season. For anyone who values taking running backs early in fantasy football drafts, Tee Higgins is a great option as a number one receiver in the second or third round.
Main Photo
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