Wide receiver Jayden Higgins spent four seasons in college, the last two coming at Iowa State, before the Houston Texans made him the 34th overall pick in April. As a Cyclone, he realized the potential of his athletic profile, averaging 15.5 yards per catch and scoring on 10.7% of his receptions.
There seems to be some opportunity available from the jump, and that has fantasy football managers grappling with whether this rookie is worthy of a top-100 overall pick.
Let’s explore.
Jayden Higgins’ Fantasy Outlook
Per the great Ian Cummings’ scouting report:
“Higgins is a wide receiver known for his impressive size and reliable hands. After transferring from Eastern Kentucky to Iowa State, he recorded 87 receptions for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns in the 2024 season, earning second-team All-Big 12 honors. Higgins excels in contested catch situations, utilizing his frame to shield defenders and secure the ball effectively.”
“He’s also a stellar overall athlete at 6’4″, 217 pounds, with eye-catching explosiveness and seam-stretching strides. On tape, Higgins has enough nuance and foot speed to separate on more rudimentary routes, but his lacking hip sink and flexibility does limit his route variance and consistency against press. As a movement-Z or big-slot receiver, he can make his money with strong hands, chain-moving conversion, and explosive RAC.”
🎯🎯🎯 pic.twitter.com/4wLhMtduBd
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) June 10, 2025
Generally speaking, I want exposure to that profile in an offense that feels like its franchise signal-caller is leading it in C.J. Stroud. There is plenty of uncertainty in this offense (Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz are the only players who will be on the field Week 1 who had 310+ receiving yards in 2024). With the draft capital in hand, Higgins should get the opportunity to prove himself sooner rather than later.
Houston Texans Early Season Schedule
- Week 1 at Los Angeles Rams
- Week 2 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Week 3 at Jacksonville Jaguars
- Week 4 vs. Tennessee Titans
This situation could be where Higgins is on the field for most of Houston’s snaps to open the season. He leverages that schedule into a profitable rookie season, given his current cost (other WRs in his tier include fellow rookies in Emek Egbuka and Luther Burden III, highly variant options like Keon Coleman and Rashid Shaheed, and teammate Christian Kirk).
Of course, the inverse is also true. I’m picking Collins to mirror the production of 2024 Ja’Marr Chase and challenge for a triple crown, something that would naturally subtract from the bottom line of all other pass-catching pieces in this offense. Christian Kirk may not have a flashy skill set, but he did average 7.2 targets per game during his three seasons with the Jaguars and is still sitting on the right side of 30 years old.
Speculating on Higgins in a redraft setting (wheels up in dynasty formats!) is a cheap-ish bet on Stroud. I’m eager to do that this summer, but I’ve been landing on Schultz as my means to that end far more often. Not only is Jaylin Noel also in the mix for the WR3 role in Houston, but the bar to mattering for Higgins is so much higher than the Texans’ tight end.
If Higgins is going to flirt with your weekly starting lineup, he will need to work his way into the top-35 or so at the position. Jaylen Waddle, Chris Olave, and Jordan Addison currently occupy that range in average draft position (ADP). I have a hard time seeing an absolute path in which I’m ranking Higgins over any of those receivers this season.
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For Shultz to enter lineup consideration, he needs to be in the TE12 neighborhood, something I view as more plausible. We have rookie tight ends currently swimming around that ADP, in addition to David Njoku, who is in an uncertain situation in Cleveland, and TEs like Mark Andrews and Jonnu Smith, who carry some bust potential in their profiles.
I’m not going to scorn you for looking Higgins’ way in the second half of the draft; there is a skill set to chase and growth potential in the offensive environment around him. That said, I’m more likely to wait a round or two and hope he falls past ADP than I am to chase his steam up the board and pounce early.
Frank Ammirante’s Jayden Higgins Fantasy Projection
Jayden Higgins is one of my favorite rookie wideouts to target this year. A 6’4” wideout who just put up 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns in his senior year at Iowa State, Higgins now joins the Texans, who are likely to have a pass-heavy offense with Joe Mixon dealing with an injury.
New playcaller Nick Caley comes over from the Rams, where they ran a lot of 3-WR sets. Expect to see the same in Houston, with Higgins joining Nico Collins and Christian Kirk.
While Higgins is No. 3 in the pecking order for targets, there is upside for more. If Collins were forced to miss time, Higgins would slot into his perimeter role, giving him a high ceiling. Collins hasn’t exactly been the picture of perfect health either, missing a combined 14 games in his last three seasons.
With that in mind, Higgins looks like the ideal bench stash in redraft leagues, as well as an appealing Best Ball pick, even if you don’t build a Texans stack.
