Unlike the Eagles' WR duo, there were no red flags coming into this season for Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Chase was, of course, coming off that historic 2024 season where he earned the triple crown. And then you had Higgins, who finished as the WR17 overall, which is the best finish of his career thus far.
Everything was in place for another great season for these two, and then Joe Burrow went down in Week 2. He is suspected to miss at least 3 months of the season; therefore, Jake Browning had to take over as the QB1.
Things have not been smooth with Browning; in fact, they've been so bad that fantasy managers with the Bengals WRs might be looking to move on.
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Should you trade Ja'Marr Chase in fantasy leagues?
It feels insane to even entertain this question, but it's where we are with Chase in fantasy football. He is the WR 18 through 4 weeks, but this does not explain how bad he's been.
In Week 2, Chase exploded for 36.5 fantasy points and finished as the WR3; this has been carrying his overall placement.
In his other 3 weeks, even with a healthy Burrow in Week 1, Chase has not scored more than 9 fantasy points.
Weirdly enough, in Week 2, Browning did look impressive, but since then, the offense has scored just 13 points total. They've had 1 touchdown in the last 8 quarters of football.
Ja'Marr Chase was held to 23 yards tonight, the fourth fewest in a game in his career.
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) September 30, 2025
Two of his four lowest yardage totals in his career have now come against the Broncos.
Pat Surtain II 🔒 pic.twitter.com/UjyPxN4UWD
At this point, if you sell Chase, it's going to be at an extreme discount. Every manager in your league has the mindset to buy low.
The only other thing you can do as a Chase manager is to hold and hope that the Bengals trade for Russell Wilson (or another experienced, competent, deep-throwing starter). At least Wilson attacks downfield, which would make for some big weeks from Chase.
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Should you trade Tee Higgins in fantasy leagues?
Chase's production felt inevitable despite the QB, so while his struggles are shocking, we knew Higgins was going to struggle with Browning.
When Browning was the starter in 2023, Higgins saw a 7% target share drop. Browning simply can't support Higgins where he thrives.
Higgins' entire role in this offense was those deep plays down the field. Burrow and Higgins nearly perfected it with their amazing chemistry and trust. Burrow knew where to place those 50/50 balls so Higgins could make a play.
In Week 4, Higgins caught 1 pass after the opening drive of the game on MNF. These past two weeks, Higgins has been the WR82 overall in fantasy football.
He currently has no value, but he's too good a player to just drop. The only thing you can do is hold Higgins and similar to Chase, hope for a QB change at some point.
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