My first reaction when the Bengals announced Tee Higgins with the 33rd pick was “how does he fit into this crowded receiver room?” As the good news that AJ Green was not going to be a holdout and be healthy rolled in, John Ross not traded or cut and Auden Tate emerging last season I really questioned the move. The Bengals are a balanced run/pass team (when they are not trailing miserably) and I expect in 2020 they keep this trend up with the Mixon/Bernard backfield duo. So my question remained, do the Bengals have enough balls to go around that WR group?
I dove into the numbers and here is what I found. All of these numbers assume 16 games played by all players, which I know is not realistic but it’s good for a baseline discussion. Over Andy Dalton’s career he averaged 331 completions, 3,800 yards and 24.5 touchdowns in a 16 game season. I took these numbers as what we have to work with. Since our Lord and Savior Joe B is coming to town I would expect double these numbers of course.
The following are the receiver averages for a full 16 game season played:
| REC | YDS | TDS | |
| AJ Green | 87 | 1,283 | 9.07 |
| Tyler Boyd | 69 | 829 | 4.28 |
| John Ross | 33 | 477 | 6.66 |
| Auden Tate | 37 | 513 | 0.84 |
| Total | 226 | 3,102 | 20.85 |
This means that we have 106 receptions, 698 yards 3.69 touchdowns to share with rest of the team. Clearly Higgins is not going to get 106 receptions but you have to factor in the tight ends, running backs and rotational receivers. It is a lot to share those numbers with but this also does not account for injury. Losing Tyler Eifert in the offseason also took targets away from the Bengals offense.
Higgins could be poised to have a really good rookie year with what is available to him. If I told you he was going to catch 60 balls, 500 yards and score a handful of touchdowns then you would be good with that rookie campaign. AJ Green’s rookie year he caught 65 passes, 1,057 yards and 7 TDs. Green also walked into a weaker WR room with an underwhelming Germaine Gresham, a not-yet-emerged Jerome Simpson, an under-achieving Andre Caldwell and a rookie Baby Hawk. Cedric Benson was also not catching many passes.
Does this team have enough balls? Absolutely! Each year there are going to be more balls to go around as Burrow increases his proficiency and poise in the NFL. It should be fun to watch!