Griffin Wong analyzes Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins’ fantasy potential after a slow Week 1 performance.
After Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow led the league in completions, yards, and touchdowns last season, the Bengals’ front office went all in on the offense, inking both of the wide receivers who helped him get there to huge extensions. But Cincinnati’s offense as a whole underwhelmed in the Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns, as Burrow threw for just 113 yards. Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase combined for just five catches (from nine targets) for 59 yards, one season after Higgins had 911 yards and 10 scores and Chase led the league in receptions, yards, and touchdowns.
It was a concerning performance given that the Browns finished with the fourth-worst coverage grade and the worst tackling grade in the NFL last season, per Pro Football Focus’ grading system. Greg Newsome finished as the 106th-ranked cornerback out of 116 qualified players last season, and Denzel Ward ranked 44th. Both of them had top-25 coverage grades in the season opener.
Fantasy managers shouldn’t be too worried about Higgins, though. Burrow simply didn’t get much opportunity to impart damage, as Cleveland’s conservative offensive strategy meant the Bengals controlled the ball for just 24 minutes, an unsustainably low number. Burrow only faced pressure on 10.7% of his drop-backs, which, despite being the 10th-highest mark in Week 1, would be by far the lowest pressure rate of his career. Football can be a game of inches, and in this case, there were a lot of close plays that happened to go the Browns’ way. Cincinnati’s offensive line wasn’t great, but it never has been throughout Burrow’s career.
The Bengals should have another easy matchup next weekend against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had the seventh-worst coverage grade last season. The Jaguars’ cornerbacks struggled to handle rookie Tetairoa McMillan, allowing him to amass five catches and 68 yards, and it’s likely they’ll struggle with Higgins and Chase. Neither Tyson Campbell or Jourdan Lewis recorded coverage grades nearly as high as Newsome and Ward did, and Bryce Young is not on Burrow’s level as a quarterback. One week is a small sample size. Even the best of players have off weeks.