Tee Higgins Seeking First 1,000-Yard, 10-TD Season

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins set a high bar for the upcoming season.

Higgins has been one of the league’s best number two receivers. He has surpassed the 1,000 receiving yards mark twice and had 10 touchdowns in a season twice, but he has never combined the two. Speaking to A to Z Sports’ Rob Gregson at Wideout Workshop this week, Higgins set that goal for himself and set his eyes on the ultimate prize as a team.

“I’m trying to shoot for that 1,000 yards this year,” Higgins said. “I missed that the last few seasons. I’m trying to get at least 10 touchdowns. Just throwing some goals out there.”

Higgins was drafted by the Bengals out of Clemson in the 2020 NFL Draft. He had 67 catches in his rookie season, tying the franchise record for receptions by a rookie set by Cris Collinsworth in 1981. He had 908 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns that season as well.

In his sophomore campaign in 2021, he had 74 receptions and his first 1,000-yard season with 1,091 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. His rookie receptions record was shattered by the Bengals’ 2021 fifth overall pick, Ja’Marr Chase, who caught 81 passes. Still, he was part of the team that appeared in Super Bowl LVI; he had 4 receptions for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 23-20 loss.

He had his second 1,000-yard receiving season in 2022; he had 74 receptions again for 1,029 yards and seven touchdowns. Injuries derailed his 2023 campaign: he started just 11 games and caught 42 passes for 656 yards and 5 scores.

In 2024, he had just 9 starts; but he caught 73 passes for 911 yards and 10 TDs. In 2025, he had just 59 catches for 846 yards and 11 touchdowns, a career high.

Besides his personal expectations, Higgins wants to see the Bengals reach the promised land.

“Any other team’s expectations. … Win that [Super] Bowl. That’s number one,” he said. “Other than that … just really finishing games at the end of the day. We’ve got to finish.”

Higgins was in attendance at Wideout Workshop, a minicamp hosted by Bengals legend Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.

Besides Higgins, attendees included Denver Broncos wide receiver Pat Bryant; veteran free agent Ray Ray McCloud; Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart; North Carolina wideout Jordan Shipp; Brandon Inniss; Florida State’s Lawayne McCoy; LSU’s Winston Watkins Jr.; and Florida Atlantic’s Easton Messer.

Despite not having individual stats, Higgins and Chase have formed a formidable duo, enough to merit the title of the highest-paid duo in the game. Higgins signed a four-year, $115 million deal last year, making him the highest-paid No. 2 wideout in the league.

Not only are he and the Chase the highest-paid duo in the NFL, Higgins believes they are the best.

In a video posted by the NFL on May 13, Higgins was asked to compare himself and Chase to several high-powered receiver tandems from recent history, including: CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens of the Dallas Cowboys; Davante Adams and Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams; Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams of the Detroit Lions; Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison of the Minnesota Vikings; Ochocinco and T.J. Houshmanzadeh from the Bengals; Cris Carter and Randy Moss from the Vikings; and Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens from the San Francisco 49ers.

He was asked to stay silent until he heard a better wide-receiver duo.

The only duos to make Higgins hesitate were Carter and Moss, and Rice and Owens, but he stood by his teammate.