There was a story over the weekend with the Bengals talking up Tee Higgins. It's hard to know how high to get on him, with Cincinnati starting a second-year passer coming off a torn ACL one issue, but crowding the other, probably bigger one.
Cincinnati has Tyler Boyd, who's led the team in receptions three years in a row. Then they drafted JaMarr Chase, college's leading receiver in 2019, with the 5th overall pick. How will Higgins -- or any of the three -- be able to stand out while fighting each other for catches, yards and touchdowns in the offense?
I wondered how often it happened these days that a team would have three solid starters at wide receiver in a season. I defined a fantasy starter as a top-40 PPR wideout.
It was actually a little more common that I expected, although nobody would say it happens a lot. Since 2000, it's happened 21 times -- exactly once per season, on average -- that a team had three top-40 wide receivers. It actually happened three times just last year. Nearly two-thirds of those teams (13) put at least one wide receiver in the top 10.
TEAMS WITH THREE TOP-40 WIDE RECEIVERS, 2000-2020 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Team | Tgt | No | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk |
2020 | Robby Anderson | Car. | 136 | 95 | 1096 | 3 | 226.1 | 19 |
2020 | Curtis Samuel | Car. | 97 | 77 | 851 | 3 | 212.1 | 24 |
2020 | DJ Moore | Car. | 118 | 66 | 1193 | 4 | 211.5 | 25 |
2020 | Amari Cooper | Dall. | 130 | 92 | 1114 | 5 | 236.8 | 15 |
2020 | CeeDee Lamb | Dall. | 111 | 74 | 935 | 5 | 219.7 | 22 |
2020 | Michael Gallup | Dall. | 105 | 59 | 843 | 5 | 173.3 | 38 |
2020 | JuJu Smith-Schuster | Pitt. | 128 | 97 | 831 | 9 | 236.1 | 16 |
2020 | Diontae Johnson | Pitt. | 144 | 88 | 923 | 7 | 223.8 | 21 |
2020 | Chase Claypool | Pitt. | 109 | 62 | 873 | 9 | 216.9 | 23 |
2018 | Julio Jones | Atl. | 170 | 113 | 1677 | 8 | 329.9 | 3 |
2018 | Calvin Ridley | Atl. | 92 | 64 | 821 | 10 | 208.8 | 20 |
2018 | Mohamed Sanu | Atl. | 94 | 66 | 838 | 4 | 184.5 | 28 |
2018 | Mike Evans | T.B. | 138 | 86 | 1524 | 8 | 292.4 | 9 |
2018 | Adam Humphries | T.B. | 105 | 76 | 816 | 5 | 188.7 | 24 |
2018 | Chris Godwin | T.B. | 95 | 59 | 842 | 7 | 187.2 | 25 |
2016 | Michael Thomas | N.O. | 121 | 92 | 1137 | 9 | 259.7 | 7 |
2016 | Brandin Cooks | N.O. | 117 | 78 | 1173 | 8 | 246.3 | 10 |
2016 | Willie Snead | N.O. | 104 | 72 | 895 | 4 | 192.0 | 32 |
2015 | Larry Fitzgerald | Ariz. | 145 | 109 | 1215 | 9 | 284.5 | 7 |
2015 | John Brown | Ariz. | 101 | 65 | 1003 | 7 | 209.5 | 25 |
2015 | Michael Floyd | Ariz. | 89 | 52 | 849 | 6 | 172.9 | 38 |
2014 | Eddie Royal | S.D. | 91 | 62 | 778 | 7 | 183.2 | 31 |
2014 | Keenan Allen | S.D. | 121 | 77 | 783 | 4 | 179.3 | 36 |
2014 | Malcom Floyd | S.D. | 92 | 52 | 856 | 6 | 173.6 | 40 |
2013 | Demaryius Thomas | Den. | 142 | 92 | 1430 | 14 | 319.0 | 1 |
2013 | Eric Decker | Den. | 136 | 87 | 1288 | 11 | 281.8 | 9 |
2013 | Wes Welker | Den. | 111 | 73 | 778 | 10 | 210.8 | 21 |
2013 | Antonio Brown | Pitt. | 167 | 110 | 1499 | 8 | 315.1 | 2 |
2013 | Emmanuel Sanders | Pitt. | 113 | 67 | 740 | 6 | 181.5 | 32 |
2013 | Jerricho Cotchery | Pitt. | 76 | 46 | 602 | 10 | 165.7 | 36 |
2012 | Randall Cobb | G.B. | 104 | 80 | 954 | 8 | 242.6 | 16 |
2012 | James Jones | G.B. | 98 | 64 | 784 | 14 | 226.4 | 17 |
2012 | Jordy Nelson | G.B. | 73 | 49 | 745 | 7 | 167.5 | 37 |
2010 | Reggie Wayne | Ind. | 175 | 111 | 1355 | 6 | 282.5 | 3 |
2010 | Pierre Garcon | Ind. | 119 | 67 | 784 | 6 | 182.0 | 29 |
2010 | Austin Collie | Ind. | 71 | 58 | 649 | 8 | 170.9 | 35 |
2009 | Reggie Wayne | Ind. | 149 | 100 | 1264 | 10 | 286.4 | 3 |
2009 | Austin Collie | Ind. | 89 | 60 | 676 | 7 | 169.7 | 29 |
2009 | Pierre Garcon | Ind. | 92 | 47 | 765 | 4 | 148.5 | 39 |
2009 | Steve Smith (USC) | NYG | 157 | 107 | 1220 | 7 | 271.0 | 8 |
2009 | Mario Manningham | NYG | 99 | 57 | 822 | 5 | 169.2 | 30 |
2009 | Hakeem Nicks | NYG | 74 | 47 | 790 | 6 | 162.8 | 33 |
2009 | Hines Ward | Pitt. | 137 | 95 | 1167 | 6 | 247.7 | 12 |
2009 | Santonio Holmes | Pitt. | 138 | 79 | 1248 | 5 | 234.4 | 14 |
2009 | Mike Wallace | Pitt. | 72 | 39 | 756 | 6 | 155.4 | 36 |
2008 | Larry Fitzgerald | Ariz. | 154 | 96 | 1431 | 12 | 311.1 | 2 |
2008 | Anquan Boldin | Ariz. | 127 | 89 | 1038 | 11 | 265.5 | 6 |
2008 | Steve Breaston | Ariz. | 113 | 77 | 1006 | 3 | 196.4 | 25 |
2004 | Marvin Harrison | Ind. | 139 | 86 | 1113 | 15 | 287.3 | 5 |
2004 | Reggie Wayne | Ind. | 115 | 77 | 1210 | 12 | 269.6 | 9 |
2004 | Brandon Stokley | Ind. | 102 | 68 | 1077 | 10 | 235.7 | 16 |
2004 | Nate Burleson | Min. | 102 | 68 | 1006 | 9 | 235.5 | 17 |
2004 | Randy Moss | Min. | 86 | 49 | 767 | 13 | 205.6 | 25 |
2004 | Marcus Robinson | Min. | 79 | 47 | 657 | 8 | 160.7 | 37 |
2003 | Darrell Jackson | Sea. | 130 | 68 | 1137 | 9 | 235.7 | 14 |
2003 | Koren Robinson | Sea. | 119 | 65 | 896 | 4 | 186.1 | 23 |
2003 | Bobby Engram | Sea. | 75 | 52 | 637 | 6 | 157.7 | 34 |
2002 | Jerry Rice | Oak. | 150 | 92 | 1211 | 7 | 257.1 | 10 |
2002 | Tim Brown | Oak. | 127 | 81 | 930 | 2 | 187.9 | 28 |
2002 | Jerry Porter | Oak. | 70 | 51 | 688 | 9 | 178.4 | 30 |
2000 | Isaac Bruce | St.L. | 135 | 87 | 1471 | 9 | 289.2 | 5 |
2000 | Torry Holt | St.L. | 139 | 82 | 1635 | 6 | 282.2 | 7 |
2000 | Az-Zahir Hakim | St.L. | 81 | 53 | 734 | 4 | 158.3 | 37 |
Frequently, it happens with elite quarterbacks: Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees. But not always, as shown by last year, with Teddy Bridgewater and Dallas' hodgepodge of Dak Prescott (just 5 games) and his backups. So no reason why it can't happen in Cincinnati, with Joe Burrow.
The Bengals look unlikely to have a significant pass catcher at tight end, and they probably won't have a powerhouse running game or shutdown defense. They might not be the first team anyone would think of as far as having three wideouts in the top 40 this season (Tampa Bay and Dallas seem more likely), but it's possible.
As for which Bengal wideout to draft, my initial thought is it will be the one available latest. All three might be pretty good, and different fantasy coaches will have different favorites.
--Andy Richardson