Is Jayden Higgins THE OPTION at #42? Or another WR who struggles to separate? | All-22 Film Breakdown
March 31, 2025
Is Jayden Higgins THE OPTION at #42? Or another WR who struggles to separate? | All-22 Film Breakdown
5 comments
My gut feeling on Jayden Higgins after watching the film:
Projects as a big slot in the NFL.
– Did well protecting the drop zone on vertical routes. – Most success on in-breaking routes. – Struggled to separate vs man coverage. – Wanted to body catch. Rarely won above the rim. – Nice feet at the LOS but lacked acceleration to maintain it.
ugh. i didn’t realize his separation was that poor. The lack of acceleration/deceleration, lack of deception/wiggle in those clips is Denzel Mimsesque. Tet’s getting a ton of flack for his lack of separation but it’s much better than Higgins in those clips. The lack of RAC for a guy that’s going to be catching a lot of over the middle catches is also concerning. I’d rather grab Bech who is also an over the middle type but can catch the ball with his hands and make the first defender miss and get some extra yards after the catch.
Matt Harmon, a guy who really breaks down incoming WRs put a tweet out about him recently that made me sour on Higgins. I’ll admit I’ve watched no tape but for me that’s not a good sign off the bat
I appreciate the fact that you’re looking at tape and making the clips and that you want viewers, but do you have to keep using such hacky, click-baity titles in all your posts?
I had this conversation in the nfl draft sub:
I’m just having trouble with him right now. The film, the combine, and production all say he should be a really good player.
My problem with him is his route stem. I’ve been burned by liking Denzel Mims, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and others. One of the traits that I’m very much concerned about WR routes is their stems. I love guys that can cut naturally off of one foot (Tet is pretty good at this, although I haven’t gotten All-22 yet).
My issue with Higgins is that he does that little stutter step, foot fire move right at his route stems. At that points, the CB has to react and a lot of these college CBs can’t match the athleticism. However in the NFL, once the corner knows you are at your route stem, they can react quicker, making routine catches into contested catches or pass break ups. So a guy like Denzel Mims can’t get separation because the CB is given a signal as to when you are making a cut.
I feel like this works better for TEs because they are dealing with LBs. Most CBs have fluid hips and short area quickness that can outmatch WRs, so I feel like a WR that relies on that foot fire stem gets shut down.
I like everything else about him, probably have him at the bottom of the first round if not for this. However, being burned by it in the last, I’m really curious how his route stems will work in the NFL. If he improves that, then he has WR1 upside.
5 comments
My gut feeling on Jayden Higgins after watching the film:
Projects as a big slot in the NFL.
– Did well protecting the drop zone on vertical routes.
– Most success on in-breaking routes.
– Struggled to separate vs man coverage.
– Wanted to body catch. Rarely won above the rim.
– Nice feet at the LOS but lacked acceleration to maintain it.
ugh. i didn’t realize his separation was that poor. The lack of acceleration/deceleration, lack of deception/wiggle in those clips is Denzel Mimsesque. Tet’s getting a ton of flack for his lack of separation but it’s much better than Higgins in those clips. The lack of RAC for a guy that’s going to be catching a lot of over the middle catches is also concerning. I’d rather grab Bech who is also an over the middle type but can catch the ball with his hands and make the first defender miss and get some extra yards after the catch.
Matt Harmon, a guy who really breaks down incoming WRs put a tweet out about him recently that made me sour on Higgins. I’ll admit I’ve watched no tape but for me that’s not a good sign off the bat
Tweet in question: https://x.com/MattHarmon_BYB/status/1906743153329135841?t=OnoX-HaKF32SeLewOBJ3FQ&s=19
I appreciate the fact that you’re looking at tape and making the clips and that you want viewers, but do you have to keep using such hacky, click-baity titles in all your posts?
I had this conversation in the nfl draft sub:
I’m just having trouble with him right now. The film, the combine, and production all say he should be a really good player.
My problem with him is his route stem. I’ve been burned by liking Denzel Mims, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and others. One of the traits that I’m very much concerned about WR routes is their stems. I love guys that can cut naturally off of one foot (Tet is pretty good at this, although I haven’t gotten All-22 yet).
My issue with Higgins is that he does that little stutter step, foot fire move right at his route stems. At that points, the CB has to react and a lot of these college CBs can’t match the athleticism. However in the NFL, once the corner knows you are at your route stem, they can react quicker, making routine catches into contested catches or pass break ups. So a guy like Denzel Mims can’t get separation because the CB is given a signal as to when you are making a cut.
I feel like this works better for TEs because they are dealing with LBs. Most CBs have fluid hips and short area quickness that can outmatch WRs, so I feel like a WR that relies on that foot fire stem gets shut down.
I like everything else about him, probably have him at the bottom of the first round if not for this. However, being burned by it in the last, I’m really curious how his route stems will work in the NFL. If he improves that, then he has WR1 upside.