Tamaurice “Tee” Higgins – Clemson University – 6’4″ 216 lbs. – January 18, 1999 (21 years old)
- Tall, physical receiver that can go up and over DBs. High points the ball well.
- Uses his hands well on contested throws to clear out the defender.
Here’s Higgins abusing a Syracuse DB. Yes, it’s an undersized ‘Cuse DB, but you get the point, Tee is tall and can reach up over guys for the ball.
- Red zone threat.
- Size to go up and over guys.
- Uses his body and timed acceleration well to create separation toward the back or sides of the end zone.
- Seems to have a nose for the end zone (over 20% of his 118 receptions in his last 2 years were for scores).
Gets outside the defender right off the line, and keeps him on the inside. A little hand battle as they break the end zone clears up a little space. Higgins uses a nice burst to pull away and catches the ball over the shoulder without breaking stride.
- Can beat a defender with speed over the top.
- Long strider going downfield and uses his acceleration at the right times.
- Locates the ball in the air well and times his route to the throw (helps he had football Jesus throwing it to him).
- Not PR/KR elusive, but can create yards after the catch.
- Strong enough to pull through arm tackles or shove a defender off him.
- Fast enough to beat defenders.
- Elusive enough to make a defender miss one on one, especially once he’s up to speed.
The end around isn’t a typical part of his game. This was his lone carry in 2019, but it’s a good example of what he brings in the open field.
Nice play design gives him space to the wide part of the field. Fast enough to turn the corner on the first defender. Strong enough to pull through the second tackler. Then, finishes the run off with another broken tackle and the dive for the score.
Higgins fakes his defender inside before making a nice break out. Makes the catch and puts a nice move on the first defender. After watching the first guy fly out of bounds, he gets a few more yards before the defense converges on him.
- Route tree was fairly limited with mostly deep routes, slants, and comebacks.
- Can beat a defender off the line to the inside and outside.
- Better on routes that work outside than in.
- Telegraphs his breaks inside at times.
- Better at using his body to create back side separation than boxing out inside.
- Big catch radius to help out QBs and adjust to throws.
- Can extend outside of his body in any direction to make the reception.
- Doesn’t shy away from contact over the middle or with double teams over the top.
- Has good, not great, body control. More inconsistent than a lack of body control.
- Wonder if he struggles initially with the switch to 2 feet in bounds rule, but should be able to adjust.
- Occasionally gets his legs crossed or tangled up with defenders down field.
- Got some PI calls in college, but can struggle to pull away and jump to compete.
- Will rely on his reach or a call rather than getting into the right position to jump and high point the ball.
- Times where his legs can get crossed up adjusting to the ball.
Higgins showing off his down field ability and catch radius here. Maybe the throw was intended for Higgins breaking vertically rather than coming back into the middle. Maybe it was thrown to avoid the safety trying to recover, or maybe it was off target.
Whatever the reason, Higgins does a great job dealing with a defender chasing him down and another coming over. He reaches back behind his body and makes a terrific catch.
Higgins has the top outside route. Doesn’t fake the defender out deep, but cuts back in front of him on the break. Tee then runs the route back toward the QB to give his QB a window and maintain some separation. Last, he makes a diving catch and gets his foot down despite the DB trying to shove him out.
- While his instincts and ability to go outside of his body for the grab are an advantage, he does have questionable hands at times.
Neither of the examples below are that damning by themselves, but they happened on consecutive plays, both of which would’ve been for 1st down. These aren’t the only drops either, at least 3 more that I found in 2019.
This is a tough catch. It’s a nice call, but Higgins just doesn’t get off the coverage early enough to come back to the ball. It would’ve been an amazing catch had he pulled it down.
This may be a poor play design or an option route, but dual short comebacks to the same side. This time Higgins fakes his defender and get him to defend the deep ball. Tee breaks off the route and presents himself.
It doesn’t seem like Trevor’s best throw, but there may be some fault on both parties. With the dual comeback to that side, Higgins would’ve been better served to break out toward the barrier to create a cleaner throwing lane. Again, not an egregious drop, but with it being on back to back plays, I thought it was worth noting. To add a point to Higgins favor, so, you don’t walk away on a bad note, comeback and back shoulder routes are areas that he excels with the ability to read the defender and break off his route quickly for his size.
