Injuries are easily the worst part of fantasy football. Unfortunately, even ahead of Week 1, not everyone is healthy. Both of the star Cincinnati Bengals receivers were listed on the injury report Thursday.
Should fantasy managers be concerned about the statuses of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins this week?
What is the Latest on Tee Higgins’ Injury Situation?
Higgins was limited on Thursday with a hamstring injury. This was both new and unexpected, which is often concerning. You never want to see a player added to the injury report, especially with a hamstring injury.
Tee Higgins (hamstring) and Ja'Marr Chase (rest) were both listed as "limited" in today's practice.
After practice, Tee put any concern to rest:
"I feel amazing."#Bengals @WCPO pic.twitter.com/I1MUZJXFMm
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) September 5, 2024
With that said, Higgins did practice in some capacity. He also spoke to the media after practice and did not seem to be in any distress or discomfort. However, Higgins was not seen on the field Friday when the other receivers were going through warm-ups.
Higgins was listed as doubtful on the final injury report and is, therefore, not expected to play in Week 1. Very rarely do players listed as doubtful to suit up.
Fantasy Options if Higgins Is Out
Normally, if Higgins were out, we would double down on Tee Higgins, but Chase has his own question marks for this week. That leaves a huge void at WR for the Bengals. It is possible their starters in three WR sets will be a combination of Andrei Iosivas, Trenton Irwin, Charlie Jones, Jermaine Burton, and Charlie Jones.
In theory, any one of them could have a high ceiling because they are a touchdown or two away from a 15+ point return, as we saw from Xavier Worthy on Thursday. However, none of them have the same raw speed as Worthy, limiting that. Additionally, their chances of putting up those 15+ fantasy points are significantly lower than Chase or Higgins.
Iosivas has been considered the favorite to be the third WR this year, which is why he was our favorite fantasy option of the Bengal’s second-tier receivers this week. Irwin is expected to take the X receiver role if Chase is out, while Burton could play in Higgins’ role. Burton has enticing potential, but all of them are somewhat a shot in the dark.
Burton received some negative reports coming out of training camp. Those were about his focus on plays, which could limit his opportunities as a rookie. Therefore, it would be a tremendous risk to put him in lineups this week.
Normally, we would now look to the tight end position, but that does not fill me with confidence either. Mike Gesicki has struggled to be fantasy-relevant throughout his career, and that is unlikely to be any different this week. Additionally, he is not a like-for-like fill-in at WR for Higgins in your fantasy lineup.
Ultimately, if you are looking for a WR fill-in for Higgins this week, you would be better looking outside of the Bengals in this game.