NFL intelligence feed

The source recommends starting Tee Higgins over Malik Nabers due to the uncertainty surrounding Nabers' injury status.

Tee Higgins has a strong Week 1 matchup advantage against the Bears' weak interior receiver defense. The Bears were awful against interior receivers last year and did not upgrade that weakness. Higgins is in a new role with the Panthers, and if the Panthers get pushed early and game flow favors them, Higgins has an opportunity for a really strong game. Additionally, Higgins has a strong matchup advantage against the Buccaneers secondary in another context, which looks bad on paper; the Bucs are elevating Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parish at cornerback outside of Zion McCollum, and both were awful last year. The source explicitly prefers getting Burrow in shotgun to let Jamar Chase and Higgins go against this weak secondary rather than playing under center against Tampa's strong front seven. Higgins is also a foundational piece of the Bengals' offensive identity; the team was built around Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, and Higgins as core strengths.

Tee Higgins is officially cleared and good to go for Week 1 after being removed from the injury report.

Wide receiver cleared to play for Week 1 season opener against Tampa Bay Buccaneers with no injury designation.

Wide receiver Tee Higgins is cleared to play for Week 1 season opener against Tampa Bay.

Tee Higgins is set to play in Sunday's season opener against the Buccaneers despite a foot injury. The source confirms Higgins is healthy enough to play Week 1 as expected.

Higgins is WR14 on both Yahoo and ECR but projects as WR9 with a 14% boom rate and 47% hit rate against Tampa Bay. The source calls him a favorite receiver play on the list. He caught only 59 passes last season but finished with 846 yards and 11 touchdowns, showing he doesn't need massive volume to wreck a matchup. Tampa Bay allowed the 10th-most yards per target and 11th-most fantasy points per game to perimeter receivers, finishing 27th in pass defense (4,332 yards, 7.6 yards per attempt, 30 passing touchdowns). Todd Bowles blitzed on 35.1% of snaps last season, but Joe Burrow had a 115.8 passer rating when blitzed. Higgins averaged 2.20 yards per route run with Burrow from Weeks 14-18 and drew a 25.6% first-read share, creating isolation opportunities for him and Ja'Marr Chase when Tampa sends pressure.

Heel contusion suffered close to the season opener appears minor; like Ja'Marr Chase, it doesn't appear to be serious and shouldn't limit him in Week 1.

Listed as a core play in DFS lineups for Week 1 CIN vs. TB matchup; core plays are described as 'stellar across all game types' and 'most-rostered players,' indicating strong DFS value and usage recommendation.

Higgins is a strong DFS option in the Bengals-Buccaneers stack. In 24 games with Burrow playing at least 20 snaps since 2023, Higgins has posted: 81.0% route participation rate, 20.9% target share, 0.23 TPRR, 36.7% air yards share, 5.1 receptions per game, 64.3 receiving yards per game, 1.95 Y/RR, 37 targets inside the 20-yard line, 26 end-zone targets, 16 receiving touchdowns, 15.85 DraftKings points per game, and 12.93 FanDuel points per game. Tampa Bay's cornerbacks are ill-equipped to handle Higgins and his running mate at wide receiver.

Wide receiver Tee Higgins remained a full participant Thursday, indicating no injury concerns heading into the Bengals' season opener against Tampa Bay.

Wide receiver Tee Higgins remained a full participant Thursday with no injury concerns, indicating full availability for the Bengals' Week 1 season opener against Tampa Bay.

Davis Mattek believes the current target share projections for Tee Higgins are too low. While last year saw a 19% share, Mattek projects a closer split with Ja'Marr Chase, suggesting Higgins could reach a 23-25% target share.

Was a full participant Wednesday, putting the bruised heel behind him ahead of Sunday's opener against Tampa Bay. The source gives a green light, locking him in as a round-3 WR2 (ADP 36, WR18) with weekly WR1 ceiling any time Ja'Marr Chase draws the double.

Wide receiver Tee Higgins was a full participant in Cincinnati's initial injury report despite a foot injury, indicating good health status heading into Week 1.

Wide receiver Tee Higgins was a full participant in Week 1 prep despite a foot injury; positive sign for availability heading into Cincinnati's season opener against Tampa Bay.

Higgins has been managing a heel issue but is trending toward playing in Week 1.

Ranked as the WR12, Higgins has a strong track record with Joe Burrow; in a 17-game stretch played together, he produced at a WR4 points-per-game level. While he can be volatile, he maintains high usage and possesses multi-touchdown upside.

Higgins has played 39 games with Joe Burrow healthy since 2022, averaging 12.3 half PPR points (WR13 per-game production) on WR14 usage. This season opener is against a pass-funnel Buccaneers defense that routinely allows opposing offenses to pass more than normal in neutral situations; Tampa Bay allowed the sixth-most receiving yards per game last year. Higgins has a great ceiling with the Bengals projected for 27.0 points (third most). Betting markets project him for 11.4 half PPR points and 60.5 receiving yards as an upside WR2.

Higgins is part of the best receiver tandem in the entire NFL alongside Ja'Marr Chase, anchoring a Bengals offense positioned to compete for a playoff spot despite media predictions excluding Cincinnati from the postseason.

Tee Higgins is part of what the source identifies as the best receiver tandem in the entire NFL alongside Ja'Marr Chase, supporting the Bengals' case for playoff contention despite media skepticism.