CIN Cincinnati Bengals · WR· #5

Tee Higgins

Age
27
Height
6'4"
Weight
220 lbs
College
Clemson
Drafted
2020, No. 33 overall (CIN)
Experience
7th NFL season

56

Overall grade

21st of 94 wide receivers

Well above typical

above average; 50 is average

Grades updated Rechecked every few hours on game days

The read

Tee's best number is share of the team's passes: 22%, 21st of 94 among wide receivers.

Written from his numbers, not from film. 5 games are behind the season figures.

How he stacks up

Every graded stat at a glance, against all the wide receivers in the league.

  • Drop rate0.0%1st of 85
  • Share of the team's passes22%21st of 94
  • EPA per target+0.5823rd of 94
  • Yards after catch over expected−0.2 yds25th of 83small sample
  • Catches over expected+2.6 pts41st of 94

Left is the worst at his job, right is the best, and the line down the middle is average. The bubble is his percentile: 90 means better than nine in ten qualifying wide receivers. Faded bars are still small samples.

How he has progressed

Where he has ranked among wide receivers after each week, and every game behind it.

WorstMiddleBestrecent12345Week 2: 73rd percentileWeek 3: 87th percentileWeek 4: 79th percentileWeek 5: 76th percentile76th

Season rank holding near the 76th percentile since Wk 2.

The line is his season-to-date rank among players at his position after each week, from 100 (the best) to 0 (the worst). It rises when he passes other players, not when he has one big game. Early weeks are noisier because fewer plays are behind them. The shaded weeks are the recent stretch.

EPA per target game by game
WeekOpponentThat gametargetsSeason rank after
1vs TB+0.396–
2vs HOU+0.551073rd pct
3vs PIT+1.41787th pct
4vs JAX+0.431679th pct
5vs MIA+0.11476th pct

One game is a small sample: a single stat over 9 targets can swing on a handful of plays. Shaded rows are the recent stretch.

The numbers, in context

Each one against every wide receiver with at least 12 targets. Right on the strip is better.

EPA per target

Well above typical

+0.58

23rd of 94 wide receivers · top 25%

Expected points added: how many points the play added to (or took from) the offense's scoring chances, given the down, the distance and the field position. Every target counts, caught or not, so a receiver cannot hide behind a catch total.

The box score: Receiving yards rise with targets, not with what the targets were worth.

Does it show up in winning? Across 208 games league-wide, teams won 64% of the time when their wide receiver was in the best third on EPA per target, and 36% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: +0.37 (20) vs +0.77 before−8.0grade points downLeaning that way

Sample still growing · 43 targets · true level likely +0.19 to +0.97

Catches over expected

Typical

+2.6 pts

41st of 94 wide receivers · top 44%

His catch rate compared with what each target's difficulty predicted. +4 means he catches 4 more of every 100 targets than the throws suggested.

The box score: Catch rate rewards the receiver who is only thrown easy passes.

Does it show up in winning? Across 207 games league-wide, teams won 62% of the time when their wide receiver was in the best third on catches over expected, and 39% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: +5.3 pts (20) vs +0.3 pts before+3.4grade points upWithin the noise

Sample still growing · 43 targets · true level likely −8.4 pts to +13.7 pts

Yards after catch over expected

Above typical

−0.2 yds

25th of 83 wide receivers · top 31%

The yards he gains after the catch compared with what a typical receiver gets from that spot. It separates the player who makes defenders miss from the one who is simply open.

The box score: Yards after the catch is a total, not a comparison with where he caught it.

Does it show up in winning? Across 176 games league-wide, a good or bad game on yards after catch over expected from a wide receiver has not lined up much with his team winning (49% wins in the best third, 58% in the worst).

Last 2 games: −0.9 yds (13) vs +0.5 yds before−8.2grade points downWithin the noise

Small sample: could move a lot · 26 catches · true level likely −2.1 yds to +1.8 yds

Drop rate

Elite

0.0%lower is better

1st of 85 wide receivers · top 2%

Passes charted as drops, per target. Fewer is better. Almost everyone has few, so it is shown but not counted in his overall grade.

The box score: Drops are not an official stat.

Does it show up in winning? Across 174 games league-wide, a good or bad game on drop rate from a wide receiver has not lined up much with his team winning (50% wins in the best third, 48% in the worst).

Last 2 games: 0.0% (16) vs 0.0% before−3.2grade points downWithin the noise

Sample still growing · 39 targets · true level likely -4.1% to 4.1%

Share of the team's passes

Well above typical

22%

21st of 94 wide receivers · top 23%

The portion of his team's pass attempts that were thrown to him, in the games he was targeted. It shows whether he is the focus of the offense.

The box score: Targets and receptions do not say how big the offense's passing game was.

Does it show up in winning? Across 425 games league-wide, a good or bad game on share of the team's passes from a wide receiver has not lined up much with his team winning (56% wins in the best third, 54% in the worst).

Last 2 games: 23% (20) vs 21% before+3.6grade points upWithin the noise

Sample still growing · 43 targets · true level likely 17% to 27%

How he plays

Tendencies: how his game differs from the wide receivers around him. These are not better or worse, only different, and often say as much about the offense or defense he plays in as about him.

Average depth of target

Style

13.3 yds

Works downfield, more than most wide receivers. A typical one is 11.7 yds.

How far downfield his targets are, on average. It is a role, not a grade.

Sample still growing · 43 targets

Deep targets

Style

14%

Rarely goes deep, more than most wide receivers. A typical one is 19%.

The share of his targets that are 20 or more yards downfield.

Sample still growing · 43 targets

Contested targets

Style

28%

Gets targeted in tight coverage, more than most wide receivers. A typical one is 18%.

The share of his targets charted as contested: a defender is on him at the catch point. It says how he is used, not whether he wins.

Sample still growing · 39 targets

Screen targets

Style

0%

Is rarely a screen target, and more so than almost any of the wide receivers. A typical one is 5%.

The share of his targets that are screen passes, a sign his yards come from the offense's design.

Solid sample · 39 targets

Playing time

He has played in 4 of his team's 4 games with snap counts, on the field for about 79% of the team's offensive plays when he plays.

Each column is a game: the share of his team's offensive snaps he played. 80% means about 8 of every 10 plays. “Out” means he did not play; a question mark means snap counts are not posted yet. Shaded games are the recent stretch.

Game by game

Every game this season: how it ended for his team, how much he played, his box score, and the advanced numbers from that one game. One game is a small sample, so read the right-hand columns as a snapshot, not his level.

Tee Higgins game by game
GameResultSnapsTgtRecYdsTDEPA/targetCROEYAC over exp.Target share
Wk 1 vs TBW 33–2772%63590+0.39−3.4 pts+4.2 yds17%
Wk 2 vs HOUW 20–672%105950+0.55−18.2 pts+1.1 yds28%
Wk 3 vs PITL 27–3093%76901+1.41+29.9 pts−2.3 yds18%
Wk 4 vs JAXL 17–2279%16111570+0.43+9.4 pts−1.3 yds29%
Wk 5 vs MIAW 31–24–42220+0.11−11.2 pts+1.4 yds13%

The box score

The traditional totals, with where each ranks among wide receivers. A total rewards volume, which is why the advanced numbers above matter.

Tee Higgins box score totals
StatTotalRank
Targets438th of 94
Receptions278th of 94
Receiving yards4236th of 94
Receiving touchdowns131st of 94

Players with a similar profile

The wide receivers whose grades are closest to his across the same stats. Similar means similar numbers, not the same style of play.

Ranks are among players at the same job who have enough plays to be graded. Grades and rankings come from play-by-play, charting and snap-count data, so they cannot see blocking, route running or assignments. See how the grades work.

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Data: nflverse play-by-play, CC BY 4.0. Also FTN charting, Pro Football Reference advanced stats, snap counts and injury reports, all through nflverse. Calculations and charts by Raiders Rundown.