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Is Tee Higgins Unlocking A New Level Of The Bengal's Offense?

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.

12 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Nov 4, 2026
Published
Wed, November 4, 2026
5
Player insights
5
Players mentioned
Topics
Amon-Ra St. BrownJa'Marr ChaseJaxon Smith-NjigbaMike GesickiTee Higgins
Player analysis

Player insights

5

Amon-Ra St. Brown

NegativeUsage10:00

Amon-Ra St. Brown leads the NFL in targets with more than Tee Higgins' 19 targets, serving as a comparison point for Higgins' elevated target volume in the Bengals' new offensive scheme.

Insight page

Ja'Marr Chase

PositiveUsage0:38

In Cincinnati's Week 13 game vs. Tennessee, Jamar Chase drew 16 targets and went over 140 yards with a touchdown. Despite this strong individual performance, Chase is well behind Higgins in terms of season-long production so far this year, though Matt Harmon emphasizes that Chase has looked 'awesome' and 'incredible' on film; his play quality suggests the statistical gap may not reflect his actual performance level this season. Operates as the second slot receiver in the Bengals' condensed three-receiver formations, motioning in or aligning as the second slot off the ball alongside Mike Gesicki and Tee Higgins, creating coverage conflicts that benefit all three receivers.

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Jaxon Smith-Njigba

NegativeInjury9:16

Jaxon Smith-Njigba has not yet played this season and is noted as second in the in-route and post-route category behind Tee Higgins, indicating he would be a relevant target in the Bengals' new offensive scheme if he returns to health.

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Mike Gesicki

PositiveValue10:30

Mike Gesicki is a top-10 fantasy tight end this season but is severely underrostered at under 20% in Yahoo Leagues. Matt Harmon emphasizes that Gesicki is startable due to how the Bengals offense is functioning, with Gesicki working in route combinations with Higgins and Chase in condensed formations that create coverage conflicts and scoring opportunities. Gesicki operates as the on-ball slot receiver in these three-receiver sets, positioning him centrally in the offense's high-volume passing attack.

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Tee Higgins

PositiveProjection0:00

Higgins is having one of the best seasons at the wide receiver position this year, second in the NFL in yards per game at 103.7 and fourth in yards per route run just ahead of Puka Nacua at number five. On pace for 1,700 yards in 2024, which would be his best season by any efficiency metric. In Cincinnati's Week 13 game vs. Tennessee, Higgins posted 11 targets, caught 10 of them for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns—an absolutely massive performance exemplifying his elite target share and efficiency in the Bengals' shotgun-heavy, downfield-focused passing attack. Matt Harmon highlights his elite production trajectory and role in Cincinnati's high-volume passing game.

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Full transcript

Episode Transcript

341
0:00Higgins is having one of the best
0:02seasons at the wide receiver position
0:04this year.
0:04>> Cincinnati, it feels like, you know,
0:06they're running that old NFL blitz
0:07offense of just, hey, just run the bomb
0:10over and over again and let's just see
0:11what happens.
0:13>> Look at the release.
0:14>> There's your separation. Stuttering go
0:16gets by.
0:17>> That is unbelievable.
0:18>> May be the greatest catch I've ever
0:20seen.
0:23>> Cincinnati taking on Tennessee. Uh, this
0:26was an absolutely insane offensive
0:30performance from Cincinnati. And crazily
0:33enough, they needed every single point
0:36of it as well. We're talking about six
0:39total touchdowns here from uh Joe
0:42Burrow. And meanwhile, T. Higgins, 11
0:45targets, caught 10 of them for 155 and
0:50two touchdowns. An absolutely massive
0:53performance from the Bengals offense.
0:56Yeah, we're probably just not talking
0:58enough about the um season that T.
1:01Higgins is having this year. Um, and I
1:04think this is a good way to lead into it
1:06with this Bengals offense because I
1:08think you saw a lot of what has made
1:09this offense feel a little bit different
1:12and why T. Higgins is producing so at an
1:15extremely high rate this this year. Uh
1:18we're we're recording this on Monday
1:20morning. So you know it's uh Monday
1:22morning for you, afternoon for me. So
1:25Monday Night Football hasn't happened
1:26yet. The league's leader in receiving
1:28yards plays on Monday Night Football,
1:30Jackson Smith and Jigba is averaging
1:33123.9 receiving yards per game, which is
1:36absolutely just bananas. Um he's on pace
1:39to shatter records. T. Higgins is second
1:41in the NFL in yards per game. 10 103.7.
1:46You look at yards per route run. Uh JSN
1:48of course is number one. Then it's Mike
1:50Evans. Then it's Zay Flowers. Not for
1:52long uh probably going [laughter]
1:54forward. And then it's T. Higgins like
1:56just ahead of Puka at number five. I
1:58mean Higgins is having one of the best
2:00seasons at the wide receiver position
2:02this year. And again I think you saw a
2:04lot of why that is coming to pass on
2:06Sunday. So I wanted to kind of dive into
2:07this game. Um but yeah, I mean you
2:09mentioned the passing numbers for Burrow
2:11here. five touchdowns, 462 yards, three
2:15interceptions, and all three of the
2:17interceptions. Well, I went back and
2:18charted this game this morning. All
2:20three of the interceptions were not
2:21good. Like, they were bad. They were bad
2:23plays by Burrow. So, it was like quite a
2:25wild ride in this game in particular.
2:27But all season, uh, T. Higgins has been
2:29cooking, including the 155 yards he had
2:31against a very bad Titans defense, uh,
2:33in this past week's game.
2:35>> Um, okay. In regards to what the offense
2:37is doing, I I mean, is I mean, are they
2:40doing anything different than just, hey,
2:42we're just going to run a bunch of, you
2:43know, 989s and we're just going to bang
2:45you over the top and and just play big
2:47boy football. Our athletes are better
2:49than [laughter] your athletes and Joe
2:51Burrow's slinging it from shotgun. I
2:53mean, that that's basically been the
2:55Cincinnati offense for uh, you know,
2:57since Joe Burrow and and Jamar Chase
3:00have been in the league. I don't know.
3:01are what are we seeing something
3:03different potentially a new wrinkle
3:04there in Cincinnati?
3:07>> Yes, sort of. Um [laughter] there
3:10there's it's in
3:11>> I'm very hesitant.
3:12>> Well, cuz cuz you mentioned some of the
3:14stuff like slinging it from the shotgun,
3:16pushing it down the field. That is
3:17absolutely what we are seeing in this
3:20game. I think Burrow had one drop back
3:22from under center. Like all of that
3:24stuff that they talked about in the
3:26offseason about we're going to get under
3:27center, we're going to change this
3:28offense.
3:29>> No, they're not. And you know what? Get
3:31out of here.
3:31>> Good. Good. Like this is who you are.
3:34So, how can we tweak this just a little
3:36bit? Like this is what the quarterback
3:37wants to be. Um whether you want to like
3:39get on the whiteboard and say like we
3:41could really marry our run in our pass
3:43game. You know, if if we're under center
3:45this, that and the other. And obviously
3:47like Chase Brown has had a disappointing
3:49season from a statistical standpoint
3:50this year. I think that's part that's
3:52part of what we're talking about here.
3:53Like the run game not being what it pro
3:55they probably want it to be. But like at
3:57this point, take your strength, which is
4:00your passing game, and instead of it
4:02being uh an A minus, which I would say
4:04throughout the Burrow era, they've been
4:06an Aminus team because they haven't had
4:09a lot of these explosive plays. They've
4:12been a really like they would hit you on
4:14go routes, but in terms of like true
4:15launching it over the middle of the
4:17field, they haven't had enough of those
4:19plays because those plays are easier to
4:21access uh when you're under center and
4:23you're using play action. you know,
4:25you're turning your back to the defense,
4:26but apparently Burrow doesn't like or
4:28doesn't want to do that stuff. So, fine.
4:30Like, lean into what your quarterback
4:31wants to do because your quarterback is
4:32one of the best quarterbacks in the
4:33league. And you do have these two
4:35outrageously talented wide receivers.
4:38Jamar Chase has 16 targets in this game.
4:40He goes over 140 yards with a touchdown
4:43here. Um, I mean, he like he is capable
4:46of being one of the best receivers in
4:47the league and so far this year, he's
4:50well behind Higgins in terms of
4:52production. And that gets us to kind of
4:53what is been different for this team
4:56this year. Um,
4:58>> so what they're doing this year, while
5:00they are still living in the gun,
5:03they're almost running like a college
5:06like old Mike uh leech style air raid
5:10offense. Um, and and the way you see
5:13that is if you watch this team on film
5:16especially, but you kind of see it on
5:17the broadcast angle too. Instead of this
5:19being like truly spread out in terms of
5:23the receivers, they're actually
5:25condensing the receivers pretty close to
5:27the offensive line while the offensive
5:29line which is full of some like let's
5:32just be real big ass excuse me big ass
5:35human beings including Amarius Mims who
5:38is I mean a total a total freak show a
5:41total stud that offensive line is
5:43actually split out pretty wide so
5:45they're actually able to cover like a
5:47pretty big pocket and And then because
5:49the receivers are so condensed closer to
5:51the line of scrimmage, like while
5:53Higgins lines up still outside on the
5:55ball a ton, um, in this past game, you
5:59know, he lines up outside, he only lines
6:01up in the slot on 17% of his, uh, snaps.
6:04He's on the ball for 81%. A lot of that
6:07is a little bit more condensed and
6:08closer to the offensive line and closer
6:10to the tight ends, which I say tight end
6:12and sort of tight end uh tight end and
6:16name only like with Mike Casei because
6:18he's basically just a slot receiver.
6:20>> He's yet [laughter] to run a single
6:22route as an inline tight end this year.
6:23But they're also making um you know
6:26pretty creative use of some of their
6:29actual tight ends here too. Um Jack
6:31Andre, who I definitely know who he I
6:34definitely know a lot about him. They
6:35had a cool play where they leaked him
6:36out for the one-yard touchdown. They're
6:38making some use of him. They're making
6:40some use of the other tight ends of the
6:41roster just to create sort of these
6:43route concepts where guys are actually
6:45look working a little bit more in
6:46tandem, which we'll talk about
6:48specifically Higgins where that's shown
6:50up for him and how that's been different
6:51from some of his previous charting
6:53profiles um from past seasons in a
6:56second. But that's actually allowing
6:58these guys like the receivers to work
6:59more in tandem like in these route
7:01concepts as opposed to just Yeah. Yeah,
7:03the 989 like you run a go route and just
7:05dunk on your guy down the field. You're
7:07actually creating more like plays where
7:09the defense is truly in uh in conflict
7:12down the field as opposed to some of
7:13that other stuff.
7:14>> I mean, Cincinnati, it feels like, you
7:16know, they're running that old NFL blitz
7:18offense of just, hey, just run the bomb
7:20over and over again and let's just see
7:22what happens. But there there have been,
7:24you know, like I said, uh I'm curious to
7:27see how this pace keeps up here with
7:29both T. Higgins uh and Jamar Chase. that
7:32I'm going to be honest with you, man. I
7:33think Jamar's looked awesome. I I think
7:35Jamar has looked incredible.
7:38Um, and you know, statistically, maybe
7:41that hasn't borne itself out to be, you
7:43know, just an absolute dominant
7:44performance, but man, when I watch him
7:47play, I'm like, golly, this guy is just
7:49so good right now. So, um, you know,
7:52whether or not he gets the football, uh,
7:54irrelevant, but just, yeah, he's been
7:56he's been absolutely incredible, uh,
7:58this year. I think he looks awesome.
8:00>> So, this is T. Higgins route chart from
8:022024, his RP profile. And um two things
8:05you'll notice here for him is like a a
8:08real lack of success and a lack of usage
8:11uh kind of combined on uh slant routes,
8:14post routes, and uh dig routes or dig
8:17routes or in routes depending on like
8:19what you want to label it as. I like to
8:20call it the dig route. So, uh like not a
8:22lot of success on those two patterns.
8:23This is 2024. Like this is his good
8:26season, right? Uh this is one of I think
8:28arguably before this year this year he's
8:30on pace for 1,700 yards. If he finishes
8:33that season, if he finishes that pace,
8:34like obviously this is going to be his
8:35best season. You look any efficiency
8:37metric, this is his best season. But
8:39that was really where some of the meat
8:40was on the bone from a T. Hagen's
8:42perspective there where he was mostly
8:44running kind of again that outside split
8:47out X receiver work where it's it's the
8:50routes are just kind of tethered to the
8:51sideline and it's more the straight line
8:53stuff, right? Like you see the 91%
8:55success rate on the curls. a 61% success
8:57rate on the nine routes. Uh the corner
9:00route, high usage, high success rate. Uh
9:03comeback routes, pretty high usage
9:05relative to NFL receivers. Uh really
9:07high success rate there. If you go back
9:09to his 2022 profile, which again, he had
9:12a down season injuries in 2023.
9:15>> This one you see a lot more um success
9:17on like the slants. 81% success rate on
9:20the slant, 81% on the dig. Um, and this
9:23year it's almost like he's combined the
9:25two things together, James, in a weird
9:28way because if you look so far this
9:30season, um, T. Higgins is running a ton
9:33of post routes in this past game, uh,
9:35that I charted for him. A lot of post
9:37routes in this particular, uh, contest
9:40for T. Higgins. Uh, he's he's running
9:42post routes. He's running in routes
9:44here. And I mean, he's catching
9:46everything. Obviously, he's been
9:47unbelievable against man and press
9:50coverage, but also zone coverage on some
9:51of these inb breakakers, and that has
9:53also led into the production as well.
9:56Again, JSN hasn't played yet, and he's
9:58kind of like second in this category,
10:00but T. Higgins leads the NFL right now
10:02with 271 yards on in routes and post
10:05routes combined. Uh that is not again
10:08normally what we would have seen from T.
10:10Higgins. 17 catches that leads the NFL
10:1419 targets. that's only behind Aman Ross
10:17St. Brown. Um he's catching all of these
10:19p catching a ton of these passes. He's
10:22uh been like he catches almost 90% of
10:24the balls on in routes and post routes.
10:27These big explosive plays
10:29>> that you're able to access that a little
10:32bit more cleanly when you have I mean
10:35again like Mike Gaseki and him working
10:37in route combinations there. They do a
10:40lot of stuff where Gaseki will be the on
10:42ball slot receiver. Higgins will be the
10:44offball um outside receiver. So
10:47technically the Z in that alignment and
10:50then Jamar Chase will motion in and be
10:52kind of the second slot receiver off the
10:54ball. Uh or he'll just be aligned there.
10:57And then that's three guys on one side
10:58of the field that you have to think
11:00about. And because they're condensing
11:02the formations so much, that puts
11:04defenders in conflict. And I mean, even
11:06on Gaseki's touchdown uh in the game,
11:09they just lose him in coverage because
11:11Chase runs a shallow route. T Higgins
11:14runs a big outbreaker and the safety
11:16just kind of like is frozen there by the
11:18three guys working in tandem. That's
11:20allowed Gaseki, by the way, Gaseki in
11:21fantasy right now is a top 10 tight end
11:23and nobody cares.
11:25>> Nobody cares. He's not even 20% rostered
11:28in Yahoo Leagues. And this is like a guy
11:29you can start. [laughter] You could you
11:31could start this dude because of how the
11:33offense is working right now. So yeah, I
11:36just think it's been really cool to see
11:37this team
11:39>> totally give up on the under center
11:41talking point and just lean into this
11:43very spread like a spread offense, but
11:47one that is the offensive line is spread
11:49out. You see that them the with these
11:51very wide offensive line splits to
11:53account for the pass protection and give
11:55Burrow a clean picture, but then
11:57condensing the wide receivers. It's
11:58allowed T. Higgins to sort of, like I
12:00said, blend his old style because you'll
12:02absolutely still see him make plays on
12:05stop routes along the boundary, but it's
12:07these big explosive inb breaking
12:09patterns that have allowed him to kind
12:10of go to the next level from a
12:12production standpoint.

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