Tee Higgins is putting up historic numbers, and it's changing the Bengals offense

Eight weeks into the NFL season, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins has been one of the best at his position. Higgins has 43 receptions for 726 yards and four touchdowns, meaning he ranks eighth in receptions, second in yards and eighth in touchdowns despite having already taken his bye week. 

On a per-game basis, Higgins averages career-bests in receptions (6.1) and yards (10-3.7) per game, putting him on pace for a full-season receiving line of 104 catches for 1,763 yards and 10 scores. Those are marks that have been matched or exceeded just six times in NFL history: by Jerry Rice and Isaac Bruce in 1995, Antonio Brown in 2015, Cooper Kupp in 2021, Tyreek Hill in 2023 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2025.

Interestingly, Higgins has the exact same number of targets and receptions as teammate Ja'Marr Chase, but he has 234 more receiving yards than his counterpart. It's the per-target efficiency that has been the difference, and it's reversed compared to their previous years together. 

Higgins' efficiency across many areas is at a career-best level, in fact. He is being targeted on his routes at the second-highest rate of his career. He's converting those targets into yards, first downs and explosive plays at a higher rate than ever. And he's producing successful gain (in terms of expected points before and after the play, according to Tru Media) at a higher rate than ever.

Higgins is doing a lot of the stuff he's always done. He's making contested catches like crazy, using his body to shield defenders away from the ball and haul in the pass that Joe Burrow places for him on a dime. Higgins so far ranks 10th in the league in tight-window receiving yardage despite ranking just 25th in tight-window targets, per NFL Pro. That's because he's caught 60% of the passes thrown in his direction on those plays, the third-best catch rate among the players with 10-plus tight-window targets. (Only Trey McBride and Nico Collins are ahead of him.)

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Higgins' average separation on targets this year is only 2.5 yards, per NFL Pro, which is the 10th-lowest mark out of 138 qualified pass-catchers, indicating that Burrow trusts him to win in the tightest of windows.

He has been especially effective on back-shoulder throws, which have become a specialty for Higgins over the years. Because he's such a dangerous deep threat, he's able to threaten defenders that he's going straight up the field, then contort his body and reel in the ball when it's thrown just behind him and short of where the defender expects it to go.

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But it's not just the usual stuff that has been effective for Higgins. He's expanded the repertoire this season beyond where he's been effective in the past. 

For example, Higgins has been far more involved in the off-schedule passing game so far this season. He already has more receptions and receiving yards on throws at least 2.5 seconds after the snap than he did all of last year, according to Tru Media, and he's on pace to post by far career-best figures in those areas, as well as nearly all efficiency metrics when it comes to targets on extended dropbacks.

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— jadubin5clips (@jadubin5clips) November 5, 2026

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Higgins has also been more involved in the middle-of-the-field passing game than in the past. Because of his role as the X receiver, Higgins has tended to do most of his work outside the numbers, working the deep ball, back shoulder fades, out routes, corner routes, things of that nature. 

But he's running more digs and posts and slants this year, in addition to all the deep and out-breaking stuff, and it's paid off. Higgins has 470 receiving yards on throws between the numbers this season, according to Tru Media, which is already a career high. His 29 receptions on 33 targets on those throws represent an outrageous success rate, as he and Burrow have shown mind-meld chemistry on in-breaking routes so far this season.

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— jadubin5clips (@jadubin5clips) November 5, 2026

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Higgins' yards after catch numbers have also bounced back a bit this season after trending downward over the last two years. He's almost a full yard per catch ahead of last season's pace despite the fact that he's seen targets a career-high 13.62 yards down the field, on average, and that the farther downfield players are targeted, they generally produce fewer yards after the catch. Higgins is doing the opposite — creating more yards after catch on deeper-than-average throws.

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— jadubin5clips (@jadubin5clips) November 5, 2026

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All of this has resulted in Higgins putting together what looks like a career season. He's been considered over the past few years to be the 1B to Chase's 1A, but their production levels have suggested more that Higgins was the clear No. 2 and Chase the clear No. 1. This season, that hasn't been the case. And the Bengals' offense has been better off for it. Whether that continues through the rest of the season is anybody's guess, but the way Higgins is balling to start the year, I wouldn't necessarily bet against him keeping it up.

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