Jayden Higgins

Houston Texans·#81

Pos WRHt 6'4"Wt 215 lbExp 1 yrCollege Iowa State

Updated September 22, 2026

WR rankings →

Model Score

72.0 MODEL

Resting on limited playing time

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

Jayden Higgins Injury StatusNot listed

Jayden Higgins is not on the injury report as of Sep 20. Source: the official NFL injury report, refreshed daily.

Jayden Higgins Stats This Season

Rec

Rec Yds

Rec TD

Targets

0.0

Yds/Gm

0.0

Fantasy PPG

Advanced Metrics EPA & Next Gen Stats

0.000

EPA / target

0.0 yd

Avg separation

0.0 yd

Avg cushion

0.0

YAC over exp

0.0%

Catch %

Draft & College

Round 2, pick 34 · Houston Texans · 2025

Iowa State (Big 12)

Taken

#34

where he actually went

Consensus board

48th

average of the public big boards that spring

Our college model

#12

among WR in our college data

He went earlier than consensus.

In college · 2023-2024 · 26 games

139 rec, 2,140 yds, 15 TD, 15.4 yds/rec

Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.

Coming out

9.63

RAS

4.47s

40 yd

39"

Vertical

128"

Broad

Comps

College career

his college career vs theirs

Jamaal Pritchett76%Jaxon Smith-Njigba75%Jeremiah Smith74%

STM Take

The 2025 #71 (tier 8) rookie finish is reasonable for a 2nd-round pick on a depth chart still organized around Nico Collins. Wk 17's 16.8 PPR and Wk 18's 10.3 are the meaningful spike weeks, and the duplicate-row game log (Wks 17 and 18 both showing alternate zeros plus production) suggests the offense rotated him in and out. The 2026 question is whether his target share grows or stays in the rotational WR3 territory.

Higgins came out of Iowa State as Houston's 2nd-round pick (34th overall) in 2025 after a 1,183-yard senior season that earned him 1st-team All-Big 12 honors. At 6'4" and 214 pounds with above-average speed for his size, he profiles as a complementary boundary WR opposite Nico Collins, designed to ease the volume burden on Collins after the 2024 Tank Dell injury. The Houston WR room cycled through multiple options in 2025; Higgins emerged as one of the more usable rookie pieces alongside the veteran additions.

Strengths

1,183 senior receiving yards at Iowa State plus 1st-team All-Big 12 honors is real college production. 6'4"/214 frame with above-average speed gives him a defined boundary role next to Collins.
Wk 17 2025's 16.8 PPR shows the spike-week ceiling when the offense engineers his target share. 2nd-round draft slot guarantees roster spots through at least 2027.

Concerns

Rookie tier 8 finish with the duplicate-row zeros across Wks 17-18 confirms the role was rotational, not defined.
Behind Nico Collins's contract-anchored alpha role and Tank Dell's likely return, Higgins is permanently the WR3 unless an injury opens the room.

What to watch: Whether his 2026 target share clears 5 per game with Tank Dell back to full health, the threshold that separates a rotational piece from a meaningful WR3.