2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Jayden Higgins

Last Updated: 2/26/2025

Career Stats

Summary

Jayden Higgins is fresh off a career year where he topped 1,000 yards for the first time, his second straight 900-yard season. His 1,183 yards in 2024 ranked top 10 in the NCAA and fourth in the Big-12. Before his time at Iowa State, he was at Eastern Kentucky for two seasons, where he amassed over 1,000 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in two seasons.

Higgins stands 6-foot-4 and 216 pounds, giving him prototypical NFL size, and has displayed the versatility to play inside and outside. His game stems from attacking leverage points, especially within his routes. With a natural ability to make soft breaking routes look easy by manipulating defenders with ease baiting them into poor situations. Marrying this with his quickness and fluidity allows him to expose them at the top of the stem. This is best on display within deeper routes, but he leaves some to be desired in the intermediate routes rounding too many routes off. He makes up for this with by being a natural zone beater, displaying the ability to find soft spots in defenses. We also see him adjust well in the scramble drill making himself available for his quarterback.

At the line of scrimmage, he has a good release but could use some expansion of his techniques here. Mainly against press coverage, as he has not seen a ton of it yet and played a lot of snaps inside this past season. His physicality is also heavily relied on, he deploys this at the top of his stem often to help create separation on hard breaking routes. It also shines through in tight window throws where he out muscles the defenders to put himself between them and the ball.

At times we see him struggle to accurately track and adjust to the ball, which will need to be improved to become a three-level threat at the NFL level. His hands are strong and have been reliable, but he has seen some concentration drops. The aforementioned physicality is married with a natural ability to high point the ball to make him a strong contested catch player. After the catch he shines, this is where his fluidity and quickness are on full display. This allows him to be a threat on screens and quick slant that he can turn into significant gains. These yards are not created with a plethora of elusivity but are often created using his speed to outflank defenders and if this doesn’t work, just bull rushing them. At the NFL level he is not going to create a plethora of YAC, but he’ll add a few yards regularly.

Strengths

• Knowledge of leverage
• Quickness
• Fluidity

Weaknesses

• Ball tracking
• Intermediate hard breaking routes
• Speed
• Press release package

Honors and Awards

• Associated Press Third Team All-American (2024)
• Second Team All-Big 12 (2024)
• Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year (2023)
• Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (2023)

Athletic Testing

• 40-yard dash: TBD
• Vertical: TBD
• Broad Jump: TBD
• Three-cone: TBD
• Shuttle: TBD
• Bench: TBD

NFL Role Prediction

• Developmental X or Z

Fantasy Outlook

Jayden Higgins’ size screams X receiver, but I think he would be best suited as a Z or power slot type role. His lack of experience against press and crisp cuts on hard breaking routes may make it tough to consistently win at the next level on the outside. This past season a good amount of his big plays came from the slot against off coverage which when paired with his natural zone beating mentality makes him a potent threat. There is a ceiling that can be reached for Higgins that could be reliable WR2 numbers, but he will need to develop into that.

Player Comparisons

• Courtland Sutton
• Nico Collins
• Alec Pierce