Player
Jayden Higgins
WR · Texans
Role expansion like this mid-season is a leading indicator of a year-two breakout — the coaching staff committed to him as a scoring option before the season ended. For a rookie WR2 in a crowded room, earning that trust by Week 8 is significant.
From 2.2 targets per game (Weeks 1–7) to 5.0 targets per game (Weeks 8–18) — Higgins doubled his role in the second half and scored 5 of his 6 TDs after the midpoint.
TrendHiggins, 2025 game log (regular season)
| Wk | Opp | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LA | 3 | 2 | 32 | 0 |
| 2 | TB | 1 | 1 | 28 | 0 |
| 3 | JAX | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | TEN | 1 | 1 | 24 | 1 |
| 5 | BAL | 4 | 4 | 32 | 0 |
| 7 | SEA | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | SF | 8 | 4 | 34 | 1 |
| 9 | DEN | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 10 | JAX | 7 | 5 | 42 | 1 |
| 11 | TEN | 7 | 4 | 55 | 0 |
| 12 | BUF | 9 | 4 | 38 | 1 |
| 13 | IND | 5 | 5 | 65 | 0 |
| 14 | KC | 5 | 3 | 34 | 0 |
| 15 | ARI | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 16 | LV | 3 | 1 | 17 | 0 |
| 17 | LAC | 4 | 2 | 88 | 1 |
| 18 | IND | 5 | 2 | 23 | 1 |
Higgins's role nearly tripled in the second half. Weeks 1–7: 2.2 targets per game. Weeks 8–18: 5.0 targets per game, with three games of 7+ looks.
Five of his six touchdowns came from Week 8 onward — including the Week 17 deep ball against the Chargers (88 yards, 2 catches) and the Week 18 finale (23 yards, 1 TD). Total season line: 41 receptions, 525 yards, 6 TDs on 68 targets.
Targets by week
| Week | Targets |
|---|---|
| W1 | 3 |
| W2 | 1 |
| W3 | 1 |
| W4 | 1 |
| W5 | 4 |
| W7 | 3 |
| W8 | 8 |
| W9 | 1 |
| W10 | 7 |
| W11 | 7 |
| W12 | 9 |
| W13 | 5 |
| W14 | 5 |
| W15 | 1 |
| W16 | 3 |
| W17 | 4 |
| W18 | 5 |
Why it matters. Role expansion like this mid-season is a leading indicator of a year-two breakout — the coaching staff committed to him as a scoring option before the season ended. For a rookie WR2 in a crowded room, earning that trust by Week 8 is significant.
14.6% TD-per-reception rate as a rookie — matching Tank Dell's 14.9% from 2023, back-to-back elite red-zone efficiency from Texans rookie WRs.
RareTexans rookie WR TD rates since 2016 (min 15 rec)
| Player | Season | Rec | TD | TD% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tank Dell | 2023 | 47 | 7 | 14.9% |
| Jayden Higgins | 2025 | 41 | 6 | 14.6% |
| Jaylin Noel | 2025 | 26 | 2 | 7.7% |
| Braxton Miller | 2016 | 15 | 1 | 6.7% |
| Will Fuller | 2016 | 47 | 2 | 4.3% |
| Keke Coutee | 2018 | 28 | 1 | 3.6% |
| Nico Collins | 2021 | 33 | 1 | 3.0% |
No other Texans rookie WR has cleared 8% TD-per-catch since 2016. Dell and Higgins both sit near 15% — a rate that normally belongs to elite red-zone specialists, not second-year WR2s.
Higgins scored on 6 of his 41 receptions — none of them required a monster stat line. The biggest (Week 17 vs LAC) was 88 yards on 2 catches. The red-zone touch is already there at age 22.
Why it matters. TD-per-catch rate is a proxy for red-zone usage and contested-catch reliability. Two consecutive Texans rookie WRs near 15% suggests the team has a repeatable system for deploying rookie receivers in scoring situations — relevant context for projecting Higgins's year-two role.
4th among 2025 rookie WRs in receiving yards (525) and tied for 2nd in TDs (6).
Comparison2025 rookie WR leaderboard
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tetairoa McMillan | 70 | 1014 | 7 |
| Emeka Egbuka | 63 | 938 | 6 |
| Luther Burden III | 47 | 652 | 2 |
| Jayden Higgins | 41 | 525 | 6 |
| Elic Ayomanor | 41 | 515 | 4 |
Higgins's 6 TDs tie him with Egbuka for 2nd among 2025 rookie WRs, behind only McMillan's 7. He did it on the lowest reception total (41) of the top group — meaning the Texans actively schemed him into scoring position.
The Iowa State pick (No. 34 overall) is delivering on the role they drafted him for: red-zone, contested catch, secondary target opposite Nico Collins.
Why it matters. Ranking 4th in yards but 2nd in TDs on the fewest receptions in the top group shows the Texans schemed him specifically into scoring positions. A receiver who earns red-zone snaps as a rookie has a clear path to expanding his role once the staff commits to him as a full-time option.
32.1% target share in Week 12 vs Buffalo — one of only two times all season he led the Texans in targets.
SplitHiggins target-share peaks (regular season)
| Wk | Opp | Tgt | Tgt share | Team leader? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | BUF | 9 | 32.1% | Yes |
| 8 | SF | 8 | 21.1% | Yes |
| 10 | JAX | 7 | 15.9% | No (Collins 15) |
| 11 | TEN | 7 | 17.5% | No (Collins 10) |
| 17 | LAC | 4 | 15.4% | No (Kirk 5) |
Weeks 8 and 12 are the only regular-season games where Higgins was Houston's top target receiver. In Week 12 vs Buffalo (9 of 28 team targets), he led Kirk (6), Schultz (4), Collins (3), and Noel (2) — and delivered a TD.
In Week 8 vs San Francisco, he led the room with 8 of 38 targets (21.1%), also scoring. These two games represent the ceiling of his current role: matchup-driven target spikes against quality defenses.
Why it matters. Target-share leadership from a WR2 signals that the play-caller trusts him when the game is on the line. Leading a WR room against Buffalo — one of the better secondaries in the AFC — is the kind of evidence that earns a larger role in year two.
8.8% TD-per-target rate among 2025 rookie WRs — highest of any rookie WR with 400+ receiving yards, nearly double Egbuka's 4.7%.
Rare2025 rookie WR TD-per-target rates (400+ yds)
| Player | Tgt | TD | TD/Tgt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jayden Higgins | 68 | 6 | 8.8% |
| Tetairoa McMillan | 122 | 7 | 5.7% |
| Chimere Dike | 74 | 4 | 5.4% |
| Emeka Egbuka | 127 | 6 | 4.7% |
| Elic Ayomanor | 89 | 4 | 4.5% |
| Luther Burden III | 60 | 2 | 3.3% |
Higgins needed 54 fewer targets than Egbuka to match him in touchdowns. That gap is the Texans' scheme in numbers: they sent him to the end zone, not just the middle of the field.
His 8.8% TD/target rate as a 4th-option rookie is the kind of number that appears on a WR1's breakout card — not a second-year slot receiver learning the offense. It's the signal under the modest counting stats.
Why it matters. A high TD/target rate means the coaching staff is already using him in high-leverage spots — not just feeding him targets to generate yards. Rookies who earn red-zone targets in year one typically see those opportunities expand as the offense is built around their strengths.
Air-yards share hit 50.6% in Week 12 vs Buffalo — 3.2× his season average of 15.6%, the single-game peak for any Texans receiver all year.
AnomalyHiggins air-yards share, 2025 regular season (top weeks)
| Wk | Opp | AY share |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | BUF | 50.6% |
| 11 | TEN | 30.3% |
| 1 | LA | 30.2% |
| 8 | SF | 28.7% |
| 17 | LAC | 27.3% |
In Week 12 against Buffalo, more than half of the Texans' downfield passing intent went through Higgins — 50.6% air-yards share on 117 air yards, against a 15.6% average across all other regular-season games.
For comparison, Nico Collins — the team's usual deep-ball anchor — held only 15.6% air-yards share in that same game. Higgins didn't just step up; he absorbed the role entirely for 60 minutes.
Why it matters. A WR2 who can command 50%+ of air yards for a full game against a top secondary demonstrates the vertical threat that justifies expanded usage. This was one game, but it proved the coaching staff and C.J. Stroud trust Higgins when they need big plays downfield.
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