{"id":141054,"date":"2023-04-29T16:40:28","date_gmt":"2023-04-29T20:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=141054"},"modified":"2023-04-29T16:40:28","modified_gmt":"2023-04-29T20:40:28","slug":"miami-dolphins-draft-elijah-higgins-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/04\/29\/miami-dolphins-draft-elijah-higgins-nfl-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Instant Analysis: Miami Dolphins Draft Elijah Higgins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Elijah Higgins NFL Draft Overview\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Position<\/strong>: Wide Receiver<br \/>\n<strong>Height<\/strong>: 6\u2019-3\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>Weight<\/strong>: 234 pounds<br \/>\n<strong>School<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/tag\/stanford-cardinal\/\" target=\"_self\">Stanford<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-draft\/\" target=\"_self\"><em>More 2023 NFL\u00a0 Draft Profiles<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>2023 NFL Draft: Elijah Higgins Scouting Report<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Stanford\u00a0wide receiver Elijah Higgins played in the background of the PAC-12 with little coverage or fanfare. The Cardinal finished a dismal season with a record of 3-9 overall, 1-8 in the conference. As one of the bottom-feeders in Northern California, Higgins was one of the lone bright spots on \u201cThe Farm\u201d. His presence provided defensive matchup problems due to his size and strength. As a junior and senior, Higgins posted consistent numbers for an offense that never took flight.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021 he played in 10 games, managing 44 catches for 502 yards. He had an average of 11.4 yards per catch, with four touchdowns and a passer rating when targeted of 98.8. As a senior, he would appear in 12 games. Higgins would have 59 catches for 704 yards and two touchdowns. When targeted, the passer rating was 90.7.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Strengths<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>A large frame with speed to match. Higgins will be a solid target for any quarterback;<\/li>\n<li>Precise route runner, balanced feet allowing him to create separation;<\/li>\n<li>Good ability to power through arm tackles. Has very good vision, allowing for impressive run-after-the-catch opportunities;<\/li>\n<li>Quick of the line of scrimmage, with strength and persistence to escape and get to the next level;<\/li>\n<li>Will create mismatch options for an offense;<\/li>\n<li>Provides effectiveness inside the slot and outside on the perimeter. Makes plays at all levels of the field;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Weaknesses<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Limited big-play ability;<\/li>\n<li>Has questions about whether he is a receiver or a tight-end conversion;<\/li>\n<li>Little positive tape as Stanford played so poorly;<\/li>\n<li>Limited big-play threat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>NFL Comparison<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/F\/FuncDe00.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devin Funchess<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Teams With A Need at Position<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/lions\/\" target=\"_self\">Detroit Lions<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/packers\/\" target=\"_self\">Green Bay Packers<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/dolphins\/\" target=\"_self\">Miami Dolphins<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/colts\/\" target=\"_self\">Indianapolis Colts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/cowboys\/\" target=\"_self\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/bengals\/\" target=\"_self\">Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Bottom Line on Elijah Higgins<\/h3>\n<p>Elijah Higgins will be a curious watch on NFL Draft Weekend.<\/p>\n<p>One reason why is the options he will present to a team. Both Cincinnati and Miami have head coaches who are offensive-centric. That would be a good thing for the former Stanford receiver. For his career as a Cardinal, Higgins would only play in 27 games, ending his collegiate career with 119 receptions, 1,380 yards, and six touchdowns. For those who say experience could be a factor, they are correct. But head coach David Shaw knew enough about talent to recruit him.<\/p>\n<p>Will he be a late second, anywhere in the third round, or early fourth-round selection, and does his new team see him as a receiver or tight end? He does portray as something of a project, but Higgins is a smart player who works hard and will not take any plays off. He also won\u2019t be the first to go from being a secondary receiver to a primary tight end. For any NFL team looking for depth at two positions, Elijah Higgins will provide that, which is a value to him as he competes for starting time at either position.<\/p>\n<p>A good player, and a good character person, he is someone you can count on to be on a roster come opening day.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Kirby Lee &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elijah Higgins NFL Draft Overview\u00a0 Position: Wide Receiver Height: 6\u2019-3\u201d Weight: 234 pounds School: Stanford More 2023 NFL\u00a0 Draft Profiles 2023 NFL Draft: Elijah Higgins Scouting Report Stanford\u00a0wide receiver Elijah Higgins played in the background of the PAC-12 with little coverage or fanfare. The Cardinal finished a dismal season with a record of 3-9 overall, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4499,"featured_media":140797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[9972,7777],"class_list":["post-141054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dolphins","tag-elijah-higgins","tag-miami-dolphins-news"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4499"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}