Tee Higgins had zero catches for zero yards when the Cincinnati Bengals opened their season against the Cleveland Browns. However, there are a lot of reasons to believe that Higgins is going to bounce back and be worth starting in fantasy football in week two against the Baltimore Ravens.
Tee Higgins is easily a fantasy football sleeper pick vs Baltimore Ravens
First, Higgins did not have zero yards because he was phased out of the offense. He was targeted seven times. However, just one of those catches was deemed catchable by PFF. Whether it was the weather, Joe Burrow, or the protection from the offensive line, it just did not happen this week.
However, he finished the week with 145 air yards and an average depth of target of 20.7. That shows that Burrow was chucking the ball deep down the field to Higgins. In fact, Higgins had 54% of all of the air yards that Burrow threw. Ja'Marr Chase had 36% of the air yards, so Burrow was throwing the ball down the field to Higgins more than Chase, even though Chase did have more targets near the line.
Still, Higgins even had more end zone targets and the same number of third and fourth down targets, showing that he was heavily involved despite the bad box score.
This could be a reason for a huge bounceback against the Ravens. The Ravens come in without Marlon Humphrey this game. Because Ronald Darby is coming off of a season-ending injury last year, and Rock Ya-Sin has been banged up all preseason, they are starting to split the work of the two across from Brandon Stephens, who was practicing at safety about two months ago.
This is a weak cornerback group, and they have questions deep down the field with the loss of Marcus Williams. Not many safeties are better at preventing explosive play, and now he is out against an offense that is looking for all of the explosive plays that they can get.
The Cincinnati Bengals could see Tee Higgins bounce back and fantasy football managers will be mad if they leave him on their bench based on a quick reaction from a bad week one. Start Tee Higgins this week.