Tee Higgins and Emeka Egbuka were polar opposites last year. Egbuka opened the year on a heater, but he cratered down the stretch. Higgins got off to a slow start, but he lit it up over his last four games.
So, which wide receiver should you draft this year? I'll break down the debate below:
Who Should I Draft: Tee Higgins vs Emeka Egbuka
Here's a data-driven breakdown of the Higgins-Egbuka ADP debate:
Tee Higgins Fantasy Football Outlook: WR15
Any time Higgins and Joe Burrow share the field, they're going to light up the scoreboard. The duo played four games together once Burrow returned from his turf toe injury in Week 13. Higgins was the WR7 on a per-game basis from that point on.
The issue is, it feels like one of the two is always hurt. Burrow missed 16 games over the last three seasons. Higgins missed 10 during that stretch. We're not in the business of predicting injuries, but putting Burrow behind the league's fourth-worst offensive line, according to RotoWire's 2026 offensive line rankings, is a dangerous combination.
If Burrow and Higgins can stay on the field, though, watch out. In the four games they played together down the stretch, Higgins turned 7.0 targets into 4.8 receptions for 67.8 yards per game, scoring a whopping four touchdowns. That's a 17-game pace of about 80 receptions for 1,150 yards and an unsustainable 17 TDs. That looks like a WR1 to me.
Other than the injury concerns, the biggest impediment to Higgins reaching his ceiling is the presence of Ja'Marr Chase. Chase led the league in targets in back-to-back seasons, generating 175 in 2024 and 185 last year. Higgins, meanwhile, has never topped 109 targets in a single season. If Chase stays healthy, there's a hard limit on Higgins' 2026 ceiling.
Emeka Egbuka Fantasy Football Outlook: WR20
Will the real Emeka Egbuka please stand up? The second-year wideout is one of the toughest evaluations in fantasy. He was the WR3 in half-PPR formats over the first five weeks of his rookie campaign. But he was outside the top-40 WRs from Week 5 on.
RotoWire's 2026 fantasy football ADP tool has him as the WR20 in half-PPR formats. So, the fantasy community thinks the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I don't. I think Egbuka is going to look like the league-winner we saw in September and October.
The Egbuka truthers argue there are two reasons why his play cratered down the stretch: He hurt his hamstring in Week 6, and his quarterback, Baker Mayfield, hurt his shoulder in Week 12.
Egbuka's production fell off a cliff after that injury. He averaged 89.0 yards and 5.0 receptions per game over the first five weeks. Those numbers dipped to 41.1 yards and 3.2 receptions per game over his final 12.
His quarterback wasn't helping matters, either. After Baker's shoulder injury, Egbuka's catchable target rate fell to about 50%. That was the worst mark in the league during that stretch. In fact, Egbuka led the NFL with 969 unrealized air yards – a stat that measures the total distance of incomplete targets.
And we haven't even gotten to the best part. Tampa Bay's longtime WR1, Mike Evans, signed with San Francisco this offseason, leaving 7.75 vacated targets per game in his wake. If Egbuka picks up the lion's share of that work, we could be looking at a bona fide WR1.
Tee Higgins vs Emeka Egbuka: The Verdict
Rolling the dice on Egbuka is scary. He wasn't even a top-40 WR for the majority of the season and he carries a WR20 price tag. But I can't help myself.
Yes, Higgins is safer. But he and Burrow carry the same injury concerns I have about Egbuka and Mayfield. That being the case, I'd rather chase top-five upside I'm seeing with Egbuka.
For what it's worth, though, I'm on an island with that take. RotoWire's 2026 fantasy football rankings have Higgins at WR12 and Egbuka at WR22.
Tee Higgins vs Emeka Egbuka: PPR Scoring
Egbuka drew 127 targets during his injury-riddled rookie season. Higgins has never recorded even 110 targets across his six NFL seasons. I like Egbuka more in a vacuum. That gap only widens in PPR formats.
