Who Should I Start? Tee Higgins or Ladd McConkey

Tuesday, January 27, 5:47 PM

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins will always be in the shadow of Ja'Marr Chase as long as the two stay in Cincy, but it doesn't mean that Higgins cannot continue to be productive. The 27-year-old hasn't had a 1,000-yard season since 2022, but what he's lacked in yardage the last two seasons, he's made up for with trips to the end zone, scoring a whopping 21 times in 27 games the last two years. In 15 regular-season games in 2025, Higgins caught 59 of his 98 targets for 846 yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns. Despite missing some games due to injury and losing valuable targets to Chase, Higgins still managed to finish as the WR14 in half-PPR scoring. The former second-rounder isn't without injury concerns, but when he's healthy, he has excellent chemistry with quarterback Joe Burrow and also a nose for paydirt. Higgins has had at least five TDs in each of his six NFL seasons and will enter the 2026 campaign as a strong WR2 target.

Tuesday, January 27, 12:20 PM

After an excellent rookie season in 2024, Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey posted a relatively disappointing sophomore campaign in 2025. Across 16 games played, the 24-year-old recorded 66 receptions for 789 yards and six touchdowns on 106 targets. McConkey's production fell off sharply down the stretch of the season, as he recorded just one game with more than 40 receiving yards after Week 10. After losing in the AFC Wild Card Round to the New England Patriots, the Chargers decided to move on from offensive coordinator Greg Roman, replacing him with former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. While McDaniel's tenure in Miami went downhill over the last couple of seasons, he coached the Dolphins to top-five offenses by measure of total passing yardage in both 2022 and 2023. By contrast, Roman-coached teams have never finished better than 13th in passing yardage in any of his 12 seasons as an NFL offensive coordinator. Given the change in offensive infrastructure around him, McConkey could be in line for a bounce-back season in 2026.