Dynasty Value Check: Brandon Aiyuk or Tee Higgins?
What a fantastic year for rookie wide receivers in 2020. Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Chase Claypool, Tee Higgins and Brandon Aiyuk all burst onto the scene making dynasty fantasy football managers extremely optimistic about their futures.
Earlier this week I conducted a poll on twitter focusing on Higgins and Aiyuk and it was too close not to dive deeper into:
https://twitter.com/jaltorfer1/status/1405195983739367436
Higgins squeaked out as the slight favorite with 53-percent of the votes. I’m impartial on this particular comparison and simply enjoyed watching both of these rookies ball out last year. I have both of them throughout various leagues and honesty I’d take them on every one of my teams. They are both in great situations to have tremendous careers in the NFL.
Having said that, let’s take a closer look at the numbers:
| Metrics | D'Andre Swift | Antonio Gibson |
| Age | 22.5 | 23.1 |
| Height | 5-8 | 6-0 |
| BMI | 32.2 | 30.9 |
| Draft Capital | 2.03 | 3.02 |
| College Dominator | 21.1% | 17.4% |
| 2020 FPPG | 14.4 | 14.6 |
| 2020 Targets | 57 | 44 |
| 2020 Receptions | 46 | 36 |
| 2020 Total Yards | 878 | 1,042 |
| 2020 Total Touchdowns | 10 | 11 |
The Case For Aiyuk
Two things stand out to me when it comes to the analytics and that’s FPPG and draft capital. Brandon Aiyuk takes the win in both of these categories. Aiyuk averaged 3 points more per game than Higgins–granted he played in four less games. Aiyuk was drafted in the back end of the first round while Higgins was the first pick in the second so not too big of difference there. However, Aiyuk still gets the nod.
It’s yet to be seen how the targets will be distributed with a healthy Deebo Samuel and George Kittle available for the 49ers. But the draft capital used on Aiyuk and his exceptional talent make the case that he will be no lower than the No. 2 option.
Last year San Francisco only passed the ball 58-percent of the time (18th in the league). This number is likely to go up with a healthy Jimmy Garoppolo in 2021. Also, remember this is a dynasty take so we have to factor in the Trey Lance affect as well.
The Case For Higgins
Higgins is the bigger receiver and a prototypical alpha. He had an early breakout age and developed a great rapport with QB Joe Burrow.
Old man A.J. Green is out of town but a new target hog enters. The Bengals surprised many by taking WR Ja’Marr Chase over an offensive lineman at No. 5 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. This is not necessarily a bad thing for Higgins as Chase will likely demand opposing teams’ top corners to cover him. The fact that Cincinnati passed the ball just over 60-percent of the time (13th in the league), without Burrow for six games is a good sign for their pass-catchers moving forward.
The volume and chemistry is there for Burrow and Higgins to develop into one of the league’s top QB-WR combos.
The Winner: Aiyuk
Give me the guy who is likely to be the No. 1 WR on his team for the prime of his career. Higgins is great but the Bengals selected Chase with the fifth overall pick to be the teams’ alpha.
Aiyuk was handpicked by head coach Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers don’t have a first round pick to add another wideout with until 2024. He is the future and present X receiver on an extremely talented offense. Whether or not you believe in Trey Lance as a future NFL QB will factor into your evaluation on the Niners receivers and that’s fair. My belief is more that Shanahan will always devise a scheme to get his best playmakers the ball in space.
No disrespect to George Kittle but there is perhaps nobody on the team more explosive with the ball in their hands.
AIR AIYUK!
Brandon Aiyuk hurdles into the end zone! @THE2ERA
📺: #PHIvsSF on NBC
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/8qeyjAHMyI pic.twitter.com/IrBtZu83mU— NFL (@NFL) October 5, 2020
