Fantasy Football Player Notes

Over the final nine games of 2019, Zac Taylor gave Mixon 214 touches (23.8 per game), which made us believe they'd finally realized he should be used in a workhorse fashion. The start of 2020 wasn't as generous, but he did average 19.7 touches per game over the first three weeks. Then we saw Giovani Bernard get knocked out of the lineup for a few weeks, and it led to Mixon totaling 27.0 touches per game over the next three weeks before getting hurt. Now that Bernard is gone, are we finally going to get a full season's worth of 20-plus touch games for Mixon? If so, top-five is in the realm of possibilities, especially knowing he'll be more involved in the passing game. Don't sleep on Mixon; he's still a top-10 running back talent-wise.

Higgins joined the starting lineup in Week 3 and played with Joe Burrow through Week 10 in seven full games. He was the WR11 during that time, so a WR1 despite A.J. Green getting tons of work and Tyler Boyd being a big presence. It was a phenomenal start to Higgins' career, and while I loved him as a low-end WR1/high-end WR2 this year, the pick of Ja'Marr Chase at No. 5 overall derailed that excitement. Chase is going to walk in and demand a large chunk of targets right away, as Burrow told the front office that he wanted Chase over Penei Sewell, the stud left tackle. This doesn't mean Higgins is going to go away - he won't. However, it does limit his target ceiling and lowers expectations. He should be valued as a low-end WR2/high-end WR3 with Chase in the picture.

If you follow college football and/or the NFL Draft, you know that Chase was a superior prospect to Tee Higgins. What we saw Higgins do as a rookie with Joe Burrow was impressive, as he was the WR11 during the eight full games they played together. Keep in mind that was with zero chemistry. Now you insert Chase into the offense, who already has chemistry with Burrow, as they set records at LSU together, and what do we get? I'll acknowledge that Higgins is going to cap Chase's ceiling and that he may not get to top-12 production, but you don't draft Chase at No. 5 overall (over an elite offensive tackle) if you're not going to highlight him in the offense immediately. Heck, even A.J. Green, who averaged 5.0 yards per target, saw 104 targets in this offense last year. Chase should be a WR2 right out of the gate.

Since Zac Taylor took over as the head coach, Boyd has played a big role in the offense, though it diminished a tad last year once we saw Tee Higgins carve out a bigger role. Still, he saw 110 targets and finished as the WR35 in half PPR formats. Onto the next obstacle. Ja'Marr Chase is going to be a real thorn in Boyd's side when it comes to volume, as he'll demand more than A.J. Green received last year. All three of the Bengals receivers saw 100-plus targets last year, so it's not like Boyd is going to simply fade away, but he's lost a ton of his upside as the No. 3 option.

When Burrow went down with a torn ACL last year, he was sitting as the QB16 in the fantasy rankings, just behind Jared Goff and Teddy Bridgewater. That's not exactly living up to expectations. He is apparently on track to be back in the lineup for Week 1, but his mobility might be limited, especially to start the year, which will put a damper on his fantasy upside. The good news is that the Bengals improved the offensive line this offseason, as well as drafting Ja'Marr Chase at No. 5 overall based on Burrow's recommendation. He now has one of the best trio of wide receivers in the game, paired with a rebuilding defense, which should be the recipe for plenty of pass attempts. But again, dial back expectations because of his mobility. Burrow is best-served as a high-end QB2 in fantasy this year.