Can Jayden Higgins Earn a Role With the Texans as a Rookie for Fantasy Football?

Nothing will lift your fantasy football team quite like hitting on a rookie.

There are plenty of top-tier rookies going in early rounds of fantasy football drafts this season, including Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, and Tetairoa McMillan.

But what about the first-year players going in the later rounds? These are the ones that have the potential to deliver a high reward at a low cost.

Can Jayden Higgins carve out a notable role with the Houston Texans in his rookie season? Let's dive into Higgins' fantasy football outlook for 2025 and figure out if we should target him in drafts.

Note: All ADPs come from FantasyPros' Consensus ADP for half-PPR leagues.

Jayden Higgins 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook

The Texans selected Higgins with the 34th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, making him the fifth WR to be taken off the board behind Travis Hunter, the aforementioned McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, and Matthew Golden.

Currently, Higgins carries an ADP of WR54 at pick 143. Last season we saw a crop of rookie WRs outperform their ADP. Brian Thomas Jr. finished as the overall WR4 with an ADP of WR46, Malik Nabers finished as WR7 with an ADP of WR24, and Ladd McConkey finished as WR12 with an ADP of WR44.

Does Higgins boast league-winning potential?

Barring any injuries, we at the very least know Higgins is -- at best -- second in line for targets behind Nico Collins. Collins is one of the most talented wideouts this league has to offer and earned a 25.0% target share and 36.8% air yards share in his injury-shortened 2024 campaign. Behind him, the Texans added Christian Kirk and third-round pick Jaylin Noel to help replace Stefon Diggs and the injured Tank Dell. Thus, it's not all that hard to make a case against Higgins' role. Collins is a target monster, the veteran Kirk could have gas left in the tank, and Higgins isn't even the only first-year wideout on the team. In-team competition lessens Higgins' chances of being a McConkey-esque breakout, but he still has intriguing upside.

For starters, C.J. Stroud is an ideal signal-caller to be attached to and he's in for a bounce back effort with new OC Nick Caley in town. Stroud knows a thing or two about sustaining a fantasy-relevant rookie alongside Collins, as Nico and Dell finished as the WR6 and WR16 in half-PPR points per game in 2023.

The speedy 6'4" Iowa State product has the framework to become Houston's WR2 in front of Kirk, and that alone could give him some value at his current ADP, particularly if Houston's offense returns to form. And while it's never fun to go here, Kirk and Collins each have injury history. Collins has missed 17 games in his four-year career. Rookie wideouts Tre' Harris and Luther Burden III are each being drafted in Higgins' range, and I'd argue Higgins has the most upside among the three -- I at least prefer him over Burden -- making him an interesting late-round target.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.