Who is Tee Higgins? Cris Collinsworth says expect bidding war for Cincinnati receiver
Tee Higgins had a season-high 110 receiving yards in the Cincinnati Bengals' 24-18 win Sunday night against the Buffalo Bills at Paycor Stadium.
Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth, himself a former Bengals receiver, offered praise of Higgins during NBC's broadcast, and suggested that Cincinnati fans should enjoy Higgins highlights as a Bengal while they last.
"It is that size and that length and that hand strength that really just sets him apart," Collinsworth said of Higgins. "It really is. And you just get the feeling it's gonna be really hard for the Bengals to hold onto him. I mean salary cap implications, we can go through all a million different things. But there will be a bidding war for him if he truly does hit the market."
Collinsworth added that he believes Higgins is a No. 1 receiver.
Five things to know about the 24-year-old Higgins' 3 1/2 NFL seasons so far:
Higgins was the first pick of the 2020 NFL Draft second round, 32 picks after quarterback Joe Burrow was selected first overall.
The Bengals drafted another of their top players, linebacker Logan Wilson, with the first pick of the third round that year. Linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither, defensive end Khalid Kareem, tackle Hakeem Adeniji and linebacker Markus Bailey also were part of the Bengals' 2020 draft class. (Davis-Gaither and Bailey remain with the Bengals.)
Of the receivers drafted in 2020, only first-rounders Justin Jefferson (5,396) and CeeDee Lamb (4,220) have more receiving yards than Higgins' 3,356.
Higgins has had two of his three regular-season, multi-touchdown games against Baltimore.
Higgins had eight catches for 89 yards with two touchdowns in the Bengals' 27-24 home loss to Baltimore in September.
He had a career-best 12 receptions for 194 yards with two TDs against the Ravens, featuring a remarkable, 52-yard catch in double coverage, in a 41-21 win in December 2021, also in Cincinnati.
His one other regular-season, multi-TD game came in a 23-23 tie against the Eagles in Philadelphia in September 2020.
Higgins also scored two touchdowns against the Rams in Super Bowl 56.
The longest reception of Higgins' career so far came in his sixth NFL game.
During the first quarter of a loss to the Colts in Indianapolis, Burrow hooked up with Higgins for a 67-yard connection.
The play set up a Joe Mixon touchdown early in the second quarter, but the Colts kept Cincinnati out of the end zone the rest of the day and rallied from a 21-0 deficit for a 31-27 win.
Higgins grew up a Bengals fan, and predicted a meeting with A.J. Green in a 2016 tweet.
When the Bengals drafted Higgins, he told reporters Green was his favorite player and added that he modeled his game after Green.
Higgins and Green played together for one season, before Green went to Arizona for his final two NFL seasons.
Higgins suffered a rib injury during the Bengals' fourth game of this season.
Higgins went to the locker room before halftime of Cincinnati's loss at Tennessee, and wasn't on the Bengals' sideline for the start of the second half.
Higgins was inactive for a Week 5 win against Arizona.
He returned to action the following week against Seattle, saying he would play through the pain of a fractured rib, but had just two catches for 20 yards.
He looked like his old self in the Week 9 win against Buffalo.
"'Bout time," Higgins told NBC's Melissa Stark. "I needed this one."
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cris Collinsworth expects bidding war for Cincinnati WR Tee Higgins
