41. Tee Higgins, WR, Clemson
Height: 6’4″ Weight: 205
40-Yard Dash: N/A
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Bio: Most followers of the college game expected Tee Higgins to stay close to home and play for the University of Tennessee. The Oak Ridge, Tennessee product originally committed to play for the Volunteers, but changed course and announced he was enrolling at Clemson in a well-produced, pyrotechnics-laden announcement video that was posted to Bleacher Report on the Fourth of July.
He played sparingly as a true freshman in 2017, but took on a bigger role each of the past two seasons. In 2018 he caught 59 passes for 936 yards and 12 touchdowns, and last season he caught 59 passes for 1,167 yards – averaging an impressive 19.8 yards per reception – for 13 touchdowns. Higgins is knows for his ability to “play above the rim,” something that we should have expected given what he did on the hardwood at Oak Ridge High School. He averaged 15 points and 6.6 rebounds per game as a junior at Oak Ridge, and led his team to a 20-2 record his final year in high school.
Stat to Know: Higgins is a true weapon in the downfield passing game. He had 565 “deep receiving yards” charted by Pro Football Focus (defined as yards created on throws 20 yards or more in the air), which was eighth-most among receivers in FBS a year ago.
Strengths: Higgins is your prototypical “X” receiver. A player who can win on the outside against press coverage, stress defenses down the field, and win at the catch point and in contested catch situations. If you want an example of how Higgins can still beat defenders with minimal separation, watch this reception against Syracuse from 2019:
Higgins runs a “Circle 7” route, stemming initially to the inside before working back towards the sideline on the diagonal. He handles the press coverage well, working inside the defender and threatening his leverage towards the middle of the field, then breaking back to the corner and high-pointing the ball to come down with the reception. Also note his hands on the release, how he is able to prevent the cornerback from getting into his chest or frame. This is what he displays on film, and those who question how he will handle press coverage in the NFL would be wise to watch this game, as he saw a ton of press from the Syracuse secondary.
For a bigger receiver, Higgins moves well both in his routes and after the catch. He shows the ability to create after the reception, both with his change-of-direction ability and the strength to break tackles. PFF credited him with ten or more broken tackles in each of the past two seasons.
Higgins also has a huge catch radius, as you might have expected from that clip against Syracuse. You see that show up on this three-play clip (which ends with the Syracuse reception):
Clemson WR Tee Higgins has some of the best hands in CFB and an insane catch radius.
He's @PFF's highest-graded Power 5 WR and will likely be a steal in a loaded WR class in the 2020 draft. pic.twitter.com/KP24Iwh2Fj
— Anthony Treash (@PFF_Anthony) December 26, 2019
Higgins also does a good job along the sideline with his feet, and will quickly make the adjustment to the NFL rules of getting both feet down in the field of play. He has confidence in this hands, consistently extending the arms to snatch the football from the sky rather than letting the football get into his frame.
Another thing that Higgins does well is how he handles his nearest defender when he is not involved in the play. He will vary his approach on blocking assignments. Sometimes he will show a route rather than immediately looking to block the cornerback, other times he will quickly stalk and mirror the DB. On a Trevor Lawrence red zone touchdown run against the Orangemen, Higgins even faked a fade route – jumping for the imaginary throw – to keep his defender guessing.
Weaknesses: Higgins was a darling of early draft boards at the WR position, but has faded in the post-season, pre-draft part of the calendar. It began in the National Semifinal Game against Ohio State, when he managed just four receptions for 33 yards in a matchup against Jeff Okudah. Then in the National Championship Game, LSU’s secondary held him to just three receptions for 52 yards.
Then Higgins decided not to run any of the drills at the Combine, waiting for the Clemson Pro Day. What did he do there, where prospects often improve on their numbers with the home field advantage? A 31 inch vertical, a 4.53 20-yard shuttle, a broad jump of 10 feet three inches, and a 4.54 40-yard dash. Not exactly numbers to write home about. That, perhaps coupled with the work Denzel Mims has done before the draft, has many considering Mims as the better “X” receiver option.
However, if you watch those two playoff games, you will still see Higgins beating press coverage at times, enough to make you believe that he can beat press at the next level. His film during the regular season backs up the notion that he can be a good-to-great “X” receiver in the NFL as well. He might need to run crisper routes, and could improve at getting consistent separation, but with what he brings to the table right now, he is a solid prospect.
Conclusion: Teams that need that consistent, ball-winning “X” receiver would be wise to look to Higgins early in the draft. On film he is what you want at the position: Someone who can beat press coverage at the line of scrimmage – and is experienced at doing so against great competition – and can win the football at the catch point and make his quarterback look good in the process. Avoid overthinking the process, trust the tape, and get your QB a new security blanket.
Comparison: Studying Higgins, I see a potential A.J. Green. That might be more of his ceiling, but his vertical ability, ball-winning and movement after the catch is reminiscent of the Cincinnati Bengals standout.