Jayden Higgins Fantasy Overview

2024 Summary

College Production

An unheralded recruit out of high school, Higgins started his college career at Eastern Kentucky. He finished third on the team with 394 receiving yards as a true freshman and then ranked second in yards (747) and first in TDs (10) as a sophomore.

Higgins transferred to Iowa State ahead of the 2023 season and proceeded to tally new career highs with 53 catches, 983 yards, and six TDs. The yardage led the team, while the catches and TDs ranked second to fellow 2025 rookie WR Jaylin Noel (who’d been on the team for three years).

Then Higgins exploded this past year: 87 catches, 1,183 yards, and nine TDs on 129 targets (30.6% share). He beat Noel in catches, yards, and TDs per game. And he ranked top seven in the nation in total catches and receiving yards.

Efficiency Metrics

Higgins improved his Pro Football Focus receiving grade across all four college seasons. His 90.5 grade last year was tops among all 260 WRs with 50+ targets.

Higgins also impressed in terms of yards per route. His 3.00 in 2023 ranked 16th among 287 qualifying WRs. Higgins sank a bit to 2.66 yards per route last year, but that was still good for 27th — two spots ahead of Noel.

Athleticism

Higgins boosted his stock by earning a 9.63 Relative Athletic Score at the Combine, putting him in the 96th percentile of all WRs since 1987.

The 6’4, 214-pounder ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash with a 39-inch vertical and 128-inch broad. The vertical and broad were both 85th percentile marks for the position.

Injury History

Higgins did not miss any games with injury over his four college seasons.

2025 Expectations

Projected Role & Competition

Higgins joins a remade WR corps in Houston. Nico Collins returns as the alpha. But Stefon Diggs left for New England in free agency, and Tank Dell will likely miss the entire season after last December’s multi-ligament knee injury.

Higgins is joined by veteran Christian Kirk and former college teammate Jaylin Noel. Those guys might just be competing for slot duties, though. Kirk has run 56% of his NFL routes from the slot, including 71+% in each of the last four seasons. Noel had a 73% slot rate over his four years at Iowa State and never dipped below 66%.

Higgins, meanwhile, has the size and strength to win on the outside as a pro. 71% of his routes at Iowa State came from the outside.

Consider Higgins the favorite to win the starting outside WR job opposite Collins.

Supporting Cast

QB C.J. Stroud will look to bounce back after a disappointing sophomore season. He sank from 8.2 yards per attempt as a rookie to 7.0 last year.

We’re optimistic that he’ll be better in 2025, although he’ll need to get better offensive line play. Last year’s unit ranked 22nd in ESPN’s pass-block win rate and 19th in Pro Football Focus’ pass-blocking grades.

Five-time Pro Bowl LT Laremy Tunsil was traded to Washington in March. He’s expected to be replaced by free-agent signing Cam Robinson — a solid player but a clear downgrade from Tunsil.

The Texans also added OT Trent Brown, G Laken Tomlinson, and G Ed Ingram in free agency, plus OT Aireontae Ersery in Round 2 of the draft. But the team will be counting on improved play from C Jarrett Patterson and Gs Tytus Howard and Juice Scruggs.

The offensive line is the biggest worry for the Texans heading into 2025.

Coaching & Offensive Scheme

The Texans canned OC Bobby Slowik shortly after last season and replaced him with Nick Caley. It will be his first time calling plays at any level, making him a bit of a wild card.

Caley spent the last two seasons working under Sean McVay in Los Angeles, holding the title of TEs coach in 2023 and passing game coordinator last year. He was with the Patriots from 2015 through 2022. Those first seven offenses were led by OC Josh McDaniels.

Based on that history, we’re projecting Caley to run a relatively balanced offense in terms of run/pass split, with an above-average deployment of three-WR sets.

Production & Efficiency Trends

Houston’s passing game was a major disappointment last year. But flip back to 2023 and you’ll find it supporting a pair of top-12 WR in PPR points per game in Collins and Dell.

Don’t expect top-12 production from Higgins this season. But if Stroud and the Texans bounce back, there’s room for Higgins to be fantasy relevant if he emerges as the clear No. 2 WR.