NFL teams are always looking for big bodied X-receivers. It’s the most difficult role a wide receiver can play, and having a great one can take any offense to the next level. Jayden Higgins has the size, athletic testing, and pass catching ability for that role, but he lacks the separation skills that distinguish passable starters from difference making stars.
Measurables
Height: 6’4’’, Weight: 214, Arm Length: 33.1’’, Hands: 9.1’’
Testing – Combine
40-Yard Dash: 4.47, 10-Yard Split: 1.53, Vertical: 39’’, Broad: 10’8’’
Scouting Overview
Jayden Higgins is a hulking receiver who mostly played the X-receiver role for Iowa State, although he rotated into the slot fairly often. His standout trait is his pass catching. He has very reliable hands, only dropping four passes in his last three seasons. He routinely catches the ball at the earliest point and can make tough plays over the middle with defenders draped on his back. Higgins also high points the ball effectively and has excellent body control.
Higgins is skilled at working through traffic over the middle of the field and finding holes in zone coverage. There’s a smoothness to his game when working against zone, indicating his confidence in reading defenses. There were some lapses with settling in areas that made his quarterback’s life more difficult, but nothing overly concerning.
Where Higgins’ game begins to falter is against tight coverage. He has good enough footwork at the line of scrimmage to win when he has ideal pre-snap leverage, and occasionally wins without leverage because of his patience and timing. However, despite his size, Higgins can get held up in the middle stages of the route. He is rarely able to stack defenders in the vertical game due to his lack of initial acceleration, which limits him to being a possession receiver. He uses route stems to set up his breaks well, but his footwork at the top of routes lets him down far too often, and he struggles to snap out of breaks.
Higgins was surprisingly effective once the ball got in his hands. He’s not the most dynamic mover, but he has great feel for how to evade defenders, and is a strong runner. He’s not going to create many big plays out of nothing, but he can give you tough extra yards to pick up first downs.
It’s likely that whoever drafts Higgins will do so because they believe he can be a boundary receiver who beats press coverage and makes difficult catches. If he’s paired with a quarterback willing to target him in tight coverage, this could come to fruition. However, Higgins’ skills could really be maximized if he plays a big chunk of his snaps in the slot.
Player Comparison
If Higgins is typecast as an X-receiver, the early part of his career might look similar to Keon Coleman’s rookie year with Buffalo, with a ceiling that looks like Mike Williams’ best years for the Chargers. Players like this rarely get moved into the slot unless they are the best receiver on their team, making it hard to find that type of comparison. But in terms of role, it would be great to see him used in a similar way to Drake London. But to be clear, Higgins is not particularly close to that caliber of prospect.
Final Grade: Late 3rd/Early 4th
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: WR Jayden Higgins Scouting Report
