Ja'Marr Chase-Tee Higgins Fantasy Football Outlook: Best WR Duo In The NFL?
Fantasy

Ja'Marr Chase-Tee Higgins Fantasy Football Outlook: Best WR Duo In The NFL?

Ian Hartitz examines the Cincinnati Bengals pass catchers, highlighted by Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

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There's a reason that Joe Burrow used all the leverage he had to keep Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins together before last season. Because when these three stars are on the field together, special things happen. Last season they combined for 184 catches, 2,258 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns. Not too shabby for the LSU and Clemson products. With a healthy Burrow, is that production the floor with the ceiling being outer space? Could be, in this passing game that rivals the best in the NFL. Ian Hartitz breaks it down as part of his Cincinnati Bengals Team Preview.

Can *both* Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins put up WR1 fantasy production?

Ja'Marr Chase (19.6) trails only Puka Nacua (20) in career PPR points per game among all wide receivers … ever. Nobody has ever scored more PPR points per game in the first five seasons of their career. This list is NUTS, man.

Only Justin Jefferson has totaled more yards than Chase when looking at the all-time leader in receiving yards during the first five seasons of a career. Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Dez Bryant are the only dudes with more touchdowns.

Even Jason Pierre-Paul doesn't need more than one hand to count the number of players who deserve to be drafted ahead of the 26-year-old star in fantasy this season.

Meanwhile, Tee Higgins has scored 24 touchdowns in his last 30 games. Unfortunately, injuries have caused Higgins to miss 12 games over the last three seasons to a variety of lower-body issues—usually hamstring-related—and concussions. Scary stuff; just realize the 27-year-old talent possesses a high ceiling in fantasy land whenever he has the blessings of the injury gods.

Higgins PPR points per game since entering the NFL:

  • 2020: 12.2 (WR38)
  • 2021: 15.7 (WR12)
  • 2022: 13.8 (WR19)
  • 2023: 11.5 (WR41)
  • 2024: 18.5 (WR5)
  • 2025: 14.1 (WR14)

Note that Higgins' down 2023 featured three separate dud performances where he was forced out of action early with an injury; he actually averaged 14.1 PPR points in his nine fully healthy games that season. Higgins has also had a penchant for going bonkers with week-winning performances over the years: His 11 games with 25+ PPR points are tied with Puka Nacua for the 10th-most at the position since 2021.

Still 27 years young, Higgins is in the upside WR2 tier and ranked between the WR13-18 by Fantasy Life rankers. "George Pickens but 12 picks later" is apparently what the kids have nicknamed him.

Also note: 81 wide receivers have at least 100 targets during the past three seasons, and Andrei Iosivas ranks dead last in PFF Receiving Grade, yards per route run and targets per route run. The triple-crown! … Mitchell Tinsley made some spectacular catches in the preseason and also caught two cool ones in the regular season. This one-hander was nice, and he even beat All-Pro CB Christian Gonzalez for this score! … Only Brian Thomas (22.1 MPH) hit a faster ballcarrier speed than Charlie Jones (21.8 MPH) last season (Next-Gen Stats). He's caught only 8 passes in three seasons with the Bengals, but hey, credit to the former fourth-round pick for housing three kicks over the years … Are any of these options realistic fantasy choices? No, not really. However, I do have Tinsley on my watch list for the last round of my 32-team league (not a joke).

Is Mike Gesicki what late-round tight end dreams are made of?

This pains me to say as a longtime Gesicki truther, but the answer is in all likelihood: No.

Could Big Mike supply a few usable weeks in fantasy land? Sure, and the odds increase if one of the top dogs at wide receiver are sidelined, but c'mon: Gesicki reached 50 yards in just one game all of last season, and we didn't even get full-time roles in Week 13 (28% snap rate) or Week 15 (57%) when Higgins specifically was sidelined. In fact, Gesicki never reached a 60% snap rate in any game last season after having three such performances in 2024.

Maybe the departure of Noah Fant opens up a bit more work here, although a (finally) healthy Erick All could also feasibly take MORE snaps than what were previously being passed around elsewhere in this rotation.

Ultimately, Gesicki will be 31 in November and it's been five years since we've seen him lock down anything close to an every-down role. He's a final-round best-ball dart to throw if you've already got Burrow on the squad, but otherwise: Meh.

Also note: Erick All looked on the verge of putting together a solid rookie season back in 2024 before tearing his ACL in the same knee that he did in college. All himself said that his knee is completely stable and feels normal. Zac Taylor had some awesome quotes on the rookie, saying:

  • “The word ‘physical’ in the dictionary is a picture of Erick All.”
  • “He’s trying to put his face through somebody’s soul. That’s the best way I can describe him.”

It's more likely than not that the Bengals deploy a multi-TE committee throughout the season, but a full year of good health, combined with more of the receiving goodness we saw from All as a rookie back in 2024, could make the 25-year-old a potential fun starter as early as late-2026 or 2027. Not a bad bench stash in dynasty land!

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. Ja'Marr Chase
    Ja'MarrChase
    WRCINCIN
    PPG
    15.7
    Proj
    261.5
  2. Tee Higgins
    TeeHiggins
    WRCINCIN
    PPG
    12.0
    Proj
    188.6
  3. Mike Gesicki
    MikeGesicki
    TECINCIN
    PPG
    4.7
    Proj
    76.8

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