Tell your friends (just not your leaguemates until next week)

by Optimus Staff

Published On: November 21st, 2025

For the dynasty folks out there, next year’s rookies are probably already on your mind. For those of us who are not as “dynasty-brained” (like myself), we take late-round rookie flyers in redraft leagues, hoping one of them pops. We are now 11 full weeks into the 2025 season, and our team wanted to suss out the vibes of four rookies and how their seasons have gone so far. 

Analysts will always tell you, especially when it comes to rookie WRs, that the breakout happens in the second half of the season. While that trend definitely exists, it’s not always perfect. Sometimes it takes an injury, sometimes it happens after that team’s bye week, sometimes it’s just random. Regardless, our team at Optimus is here to break down some of the big names for you and help provide some insight.

Friday Vibes Week 12: Rookie Spotlights

Lou Brunson:

Jayden Higgins, WR, Houston Texans

When Houston drafted Iowa State teammates Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, most fantasy analysts saw an immediate path to fantasy relevance thanks to Christian Kirk‘s nagging injuries and an unsettled WR room behind Nico Collins. As is often the case with young players, they’ve had to prove themselves over time before earning extensive playing time, and both disappointed early in the season. Higgins is a fantastic athlete, with his overall athleticism (RAS) ranking better than 96% of other WRs entering the NFL draft. With that frame in mind, let’s check in on Higgins and take a look at what’s reasonable to expect from him for the rest of the season.

Throughout the first four weeks of the season, Higgins’ snap share hovered a little over 40%. Pretty typical for a rookie. Even though his snap share grew to 55-65% as Nico Collins battled injuries over a couple of weeks, Higgins only earned 14 targets over his first six games played. Again, pretty normal for most rookie WRs. In Week 8, which Nico Collins missed, Higgins’ snap share jumped to 82% and he earned eight targets, by far his season high to that point. However, once Collins returned the following week, Higgins’ snap share fell back down into the mid-40s.

The last three weeks paint a very different picture, however. Although Higgins’ snap share has only crept up slowly to the 55-65% range, his earned targets jumped considerably. Over his last three games, Jayden Higgins has earned seven, seven, and nine targets, respectively. This is the sign of a rookie earning the faith of his coaches and, more importantly, his QB. It’s valid to wonder if this kind of target share would continue once starter C.J. Stroud returns to play, since this three-game stretch for Higgins has come with backup Davis Mills.



Overall, Jayden Higgins’ rookie profile is that of a rookie WR on the rise. His playing time is increasing to reasonable levels, he’s gaining the trust of the coaching staff, he’s gaining the trust of his QB, and perhaps most importantly, he’s a good weapon in the red zone. At the very least, Jayden Higgins should be in the WR3 range for folks for the rest of the season, and potentially higher depending on what his rapport is like with C.J. Stroud.

Nate Polvogt:

Harold Fannin, TE, Cleveland Browns

My love affair with Cleveland rookie TE Harold Fannin started back in January in Mobile, Alabama. The bookend out of Bowling Green turned heads at the Senior Bowl this past year, showing a mix of decent athleticism and overall knowledge and coachability – note to you, the reader. As we get into rookie valuation season, you will see/hear me talk about coachability a lot, because in the scouting process for NFL teams, it matters a lot.

Before we knew his landing spot, there was a feeling that Fannin would land somewhere that needed help with an established veteran TE presence, which is exactly what happened when he landed in Cleveland. 

While the Browns didn’t seem like an ideal fit for Fannin, with that veteran TE being David Njoku, I wasn’t really worried. One of the things I love about him is his versatility. In his senior year at Bowling Green, out of 715 total snaps, 311 were in-line, 204 were in the slot, and 160 were out wide. 

Landing in Cleveland, with little help at WR regardless of QB situation, was a perfect storm for Fannin to be nearly immediately productive in both NFL and fantasy football terms. Through 11 games, the rookie has yet to see a snap share below 63% and is averaging 5.7 targets per game. And, despite atrocious QB play most of this season, Fannin is currently TE15 in full-PPR leagues.

Fannin came out of the gate this season with a bang and hasn’t slowed down, while we’ve watched Njoku’s volume dip significantly since Week 7. As with any rookie – or player in Cleveland – there will be down weeks. With rookie Shedeur Sanders primed to start this week, this is likely one of those. But fear not, the rookie will continue to be a more-than-viable flex play the rest of this season. And, should Njoku miss any time, Fannin could sneak into the top-12 at his position as we approach the end of this season.  

Cameron White:

Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

Coming into this season, it was thought that the Jacksonville lead-back position was up for grabs. Travis Etienne‘s ADP was hovering around 90, Tank Bigsby‘s around 140, and Bhaysul Tuten’s ADP was not far behind. Etienne has proved to be the top dog all year and was a steal at his ADP. Cheers all around if you bought into the ambiguity with Etienne. On to our rook! 

To start the season, Tuten mixed in for 10-20% of snaps every week. Then the trade of Tank Bigsby to Philadelphia opened up additional opportunities for Bhayshul Tuten to showcase the athletic ability that had everyone buzzing after the NFL combine, where he posted a Relative Athletic Score of 9.55 out of 10.

Tuten broke 29 tackles and forced 66 missed tackles in his last season at Virginia Tech. Tuten was the 6th best RB in both broken tackles and forced missed tackles in a strong RB rookie class. In the NFL, Tuten has run with power and evasiveness, breaking arm tackles by defensive linemen and juking linebackers. He’s tough to get your hands on, in part due to his small stature, and when defenses do, he has enough power to stave off tackles and bully his way forward. 

His Week 11 explosion came in a game in which Jacksonville beat the Los Angeles Chargers 35-6. Tuten was involved throughout the game, and it is promising that his production didn’t happen entirely in garbage time.

We should monitor the ankle injury he sustained in the 3rd quarter of last week’s game to ensure it isn’t serious. I’m optimistic that Liam Coen will keep this offense humming and create opportunities for Tuten to generate startable fantasy weeks. Without an injury to other RBs in this backfield, we should continue to see Tuten handle 25-35% of the snaps in this offense, which will keep him in the flex conversation moving forward. If Etienne were to go down, I assume that Tuten and fellow rookie RB LeQuint Allen would have a near-even split of the RB snaps, and both would become potential flex plays with upside.

The future is bright for the Rootin’ Tuten. For more thoughts on Bhayshul Tuten, check out the Week 12 Waiver Wire Pickup & Sleepers episode from Nate and Lou. 

Bryan Rockwood:

TreVeyon Henderson, RB, New England Patriots

Real-life football is getting in the way of a good fantasy player…

Rhamondre Stevenson has missed the past three games, opening the door for fantasy football darling TreVeyon Henderson to showcase what he can do with the backfield to himself. And, wow, did he show us. Henderson’s 264 rush yards, 66 receiving yards, and five touchdowns through the last three games have all but confirmed his ability to be a playmaker in this league. Of course, all of those brilliant Optimus Fantasy readers knew this already, but I guess it took the Patriots coaching staff some time to get there.

The question that plagues us, though, is this: how do you put the genie back in the bottle? Now that you’ve seen what he can do, how do you (as the Patriots’ offensive staff) relegate him back as the number 2 option behind Rhamondre? We care about this question as fantasy managers, but even from a strictly NFL lens, it feels as though Henderson has forced himself onto the field. 

The best outcome of this backfield is to see Henderson take the majority of the 20 to 20 reps (AKA the snaps outside the red zone). This allows Henderson to have the most opportunity to spring that big play like we’ve seen a few times already. We can only hope he has something closer to a true 50/50 split with the snaps, because giving the more explosive back more touches is always good practice. As the Pats battle the Bengals, fantasy managers will once again be glued to their screens, waiting to see what Hendo can do next. 

For more advice, head over to our Discord channel and ask our analysts! For breaking news and injury updates, follow Optimus Fantasy News on Bluesky!

For the dynasty folks out there, next year’s rookies are probably already on your mind. For those of us who are not as “dynasty-brained” (like myself), we take late-round rookie flyers in redraft leagues, hoping one of them pops. We are now 11 full weeks into the 2025 season, and our team wanted to suss out the vibes of four rookies and how their seasons have gone so far. 

Analysts will always tell you, especially when it comes to rookie WRs, that the breakout happens in the second half of the season. While that trend definitely exists, it’s not always perfect. Sometimes it takes an injury, sometimes it happens after that team’s bye week, sometimes it’s just random. Regardless, our team at Optimus is here to break down some of the big names for you and help provide some insight.

Friday Vibes Week 12: Rookie Spotlights

Lou Brunson:

Jayden Higgins, WR, Houston Texans

When Houston drafted Iowa State teammates Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, most fantasy analysts saw an immediate path to fantasy relevance thanks to Christian Kirk‘s nagging injuries and an unsettled WR room behind Nico Collins. As is often the case with young players, they’ve had to prove themselves over time before earning extensive playing time, and both disappointed early in the season. Higgins is a fantastic athlete, with his overall athleticism (RAS) ranking better than 96% of other WRs entering the NFL draft. With that frame in mind, let’s check in on Higgins and take a look at what’s reasonable to expect from him for the rest of the season.

Throughout the first four weeks of the season, Higgins’ snap share hovered a little over 40%. Pretty typical for a rookie. Even though his snap share grew to 55-65% as Nico Collins battled injuries over a couple of weeks, Higgins only earned 14 targets over his first six games played. Again, pretty normal for most rookie WRs. In Week 8, which Nico Collins missed, Higgins’ snap share jumped to 82% and he earned eight targets, by far his season high to that point. However, once Collins returned the following week, Higgins’ snap share fell back down into the mid-40s.

The last three weeks paint a very different picture, however. Although Higgins’ snap share has only crept up slowly to the 55-65% range, his earned targets jumped considerably. Over his last three games, Jayden Higgins has earned seven, seven, and nine targets, respectively. This is the sign of a rookie earning the faith of his coaches and, more importantly, his QB. It’s valid to wonder if this kind of target share would continue once starter C.J. Stroud returns to play, since this three-game stretch for Higgins has come with backup Davis Mills.



Overall, Jayden Higgins’ rookie profile is that of a rookie WR on the rise. His playing time is increasing to reasonable levels, he’s gaining the trust of the coaching staff, he’s gaining the trust of his QB, and perhaps most importantly, he’s a good weapon in the red zone. At the very least, Jayden Higgins should be in the WR3 range for folks for the rest of the season, and potentially higher depending on what his rapport is like with C.J. Stroud.

Nate Polvogt:

Harold Fannin, TE, Cleveland Browns

My love affair with Cleveland rookie TE Harold Fannin started back in January in Mobile, Alabama. The bookend out of Bowling Green turned heads at the Senior Bowl this past year, showing a mix of decent athleticism and overall knowledge and coachability – note to you, the reader. As we get into rookie valuation season, you will see/hear me talk about coachability a lot, because in the scouting process for NFL teams, it matters a lot.

Before we knew his landing spot, there was a feeling that Fannin would land somewhere that needed help with an established veteran TE presence, which is exactly what happened when he landed in Cleveland. 

While the Browns didn’t seem like an ideal fit for Fannin, with that veteran TE being David Njoku, I wasn’t really worried. One of the things I love about him is his versatility. In his senior year at Bowling Green, out of 715 total snaps, 311 were in-line, 204 were in the slot, and 160 were out wide. 

Landing in Cleveland, with little help at WR regardless of QB situation, was a perfect storm for Fannin to be nearly immediately productive in both NFL and fantasy football terms. Through 11 games, the rookie has yet to see a snap share below 63% and is averaging 5.7 targets per game. And, despite atrocious QB play most of this season, Fannin is currently TE15 in full-PPR leagues.

Fannin came out of the gate this season with a bang and hasn’t slowed down, while we’ve watched Njoku’s volume dip significantly since Week 7. As with any rookie – or player in Cleveland – there will be down weeks. With rookie Shedeur Sanders primed to start this week, this is likely one of those. But fear not, the rookie will continue to be a more-than-viable flex play the rest of this season. And, should Njoku miss any time, Fannin could sneak into the top-12 at his position as we approach the end of this season.  

Cameron White:

Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

Coming into this season, it was thought that the Jacksonville lead-back position was up for grabs. Travis Etienne‘s ADP was hovering around 90, Tank Bigsby‘s around 140, and Bhaysul Tuten’s ADP was not far behind. Etienne has proved to be the top dog all year and was a steal at his ADP. Cheers all around if you bought into the ambiguity with Etienne. On to our rook! 

To start the season, Tuten mixed in for 10-20% of snaps every week. Then the trade of Tank Bigsby to Philadelphia opened up additional opportunities for Bhayshul Tuten to showcase the athletic ability that had everyone buzzing after the NFL combine, where he posted a Relative Athletic Score of 9.55 out of 10.

Tuten broke 29 tackles and forced 66 missed tackles in his last season at Virginia Tech. Tuten was the 6th best RB in both broken tackles and forced missed tackles in a strong RB rookie class. In the NFL, Tuten has run with power and evasiveness, breaking arm tackles by defensive linemen and juking linebackers. He’s tough to get your hands on, in part due to his small stature, and when defenses do, he has enough power to stave off tackles and bully his way forward. 

His Week 11 explosion came in a game in which Jacksonville beat the Los Angeles Chargers 35-6. Tuten was involved throughout the game, and it is promising that his production didn’t happen entirely in garbage time.

We should monitor the ankle injury he sustained in the 3rd quarter of last week’s game to ensure it isn’t serious. I’m optimistic that Liam Coen will keep this offense humming and create opportunities for Tuten to generate startable fantasy weeks. Without an injury to other RBs in this backfield, we should continue to see Tuten handle 25-35% of the snaps in this offense, which will keep him in the flex conversation moving forward. If Etienne were to go down, I assume that Tuten and fellow rookie RB LeQuint Allen would have a near-even split of the RB snaps, and both would become potential flex plays with upside.

The future is bright for the Rootin’ Tuten. For more thoughts on Bhayshul Tuten, check out the Week 12 Waiver Wire Pickup & Sleepers episode from Nate and Lou. 

Bryan Rockwood:

TreVeyon Henderson, RB, New England Patriots

Real-life football is getting in the way of a good fantasy player…

Rhamondre Stevenson has missed the past three games, opening the door for fantasy football darling TreVeyon Henderson to showcase what he can do with the backfield to himself. And, wow, did he show us. Henderson’s 264 rush yards, 66 receiving yards, and five touchdowns through the last three games have all but confirmed his ability to be a playmaker in this league. Of course, all of those brilliant Optimus Fantasy readers knew this already, but I guess it took the Patriots coaching staff some time to get there.

The question that plagues us, though, is this: how do you put the genie back in the bottle? Now that you’ve seen what he can do, how do you (as the Patriots’ offensive staff) relegate him back as the number 2 option behind Rhamondre? We care about this question as fantasy managers, but even from a strictly NFL lens, it feels as though Henderson has forced himself onto the field. 

The best outcome of this backfield is to see Henderson take the majority of the 20 to 20 reps (AKA the snaps outside the red zone). This allows Henderson to have the most opportunity to spring that big play like we’ve seen a few times already. We can only hope he has something closer to a true 50/50 split with the snaps, because giving the more explosive back more touches is always good practice. As the Pats battle the Bengals, fantasy managers will once again be glued to their screens, waiting to see what Hendo can do next. 

For more advice, head over to our Discord channel and ask our analysts! For breaking news and injury updates, follow Optimus Fantasy News on Bluesky!

For the dynasty folks out there, next year’s rookies are probably already on your mind. For those of us who are not as “dynasty-brained” (like myself), we take late-round rookie flyers in redraft leagues, hoping one of them pops. We are now 11 full weeks into the 2025 season, and our team wanted to suss out the vibes of four rookies and how their seasons have gone so far. 

Analysts will always tell you, especially when it comes to rookie WRs, that the breakout happens in the second half of the season. While that trend definitely exists, it’s not always perfect. Sometimes it takes an injury, sometimes it happens after that team’s bye week, sometimes it’s just random. Regardless, our team at Optimus is here to break down some of the big names for you and help provide some insight.

Friday Vibes Week 12: Rookie Spotlights

Lou Brunson:

Jayden Higgins, WR, Houston Texans

When Houston drafted Iowa State teammates Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, most fantasy analysts saw an immediate path to fantasy relevance thanks to Christian Kirk‘s nagging injuries and an unsettled WR room behind Nico Collins. As is often the case with young players, they’ve had to prove themselves over time before earning extensive playing time, and both disappointed early in the season. Higgins is a fantastic athlete, with his overall athleticism (RAS) ranking better than 96% of other WRs entering the NFL draft. With that frame in mind, let’s check in on Higgins and take a look at what’s reasonable to expect from him for the rest of the season.

Throughout the first four weeks of the season, Higgins’ snap share hovered a little over 40%. Pretty typical for a rookie. Even though his snap share grew to 55-65% as Nico Collins battled injuries over a couple of weeks, Higgins only earned 14 targets over his first six games played. Again, pretty normal for most rookie WRs. In Week 8, which Nico Collins missed, Higgins’ snap share jumped to 82% and he earned eight targets, by far his season high to that point. However, once Collins returned the following week, Higgins’ snap share fell back down into the mid-40s.

The last three weeks paint a very different picture, however. Although Higgins’ snap share has only crept up slowly to the 55-65% range, his earned targets jumped considerably. Over his last three games, Jayden Higgins has earned seven, seven, and nine targets, respectively. This is the sign of a rookie earning the faith of his coaches and, more importantly, his QB. It’s valid to wonder if this kind of target share would continue once starter C.J. Stroud returns to play, since this three-game stretch for Higgins has come with backup Davis Mills.



Overall, Jayden Higgins’ rookie profile is that of a rookie WR on the rise. His playing time is increasing to reasonable levels, he’s gaining the trust of the coaching staff, he’s gaining the trust of his QB, and perhaps most importantly, he’s a good weapon in the red zone. At the very least, Jayden Higgins should be in the WR3 range for folks for the rest of the season, and potentially higher depending on what his rapport is like with C.J. Stroud.

Nate Polvogt:

Harold Fannin, TE, Cleveland Browns

My love affair with Cleveland rookie TE Harold Fannin started back in January in Mobile, Alabama. The bookend out of Bowling Green turned heads at the Senior Bowl this past year, showing a mix of decent athleticism and overall knowledge and coachability – note to you, the reader. As we get into rookie valuation season, you will see/hear me talk about coachability a lot, because in the scouting process for NFL teams, it matters a lot.

Before we knew his landing spot, there was a feeling that Fannin would land somewhere that needed help with an established veteran TE presence, which is exactly what happened when he landed in Cleveland. 

While the Browns didn’t seem like an ideal fit for Fannin, with that veteran TE being David Njoku, I wasn’t really worried. One of the things I love about him is his versatility. In his senior year at Bowling Green, out of 715 total snaps, 311 were in-line, 204 were in the slot, and 160 were out wide. 

Landing in Cleveland, with little help at WR regardless of QB situation, was a perfect storm for Fannin to be nearly immediately productive in both NFL and fantasy football terms. Through 11 games, the rookie has yet to see a snap share below 63% and is averaging 5.7 targets per game. And, despite atrocious QB play most of this season, Fannin is currently TE15 in full-PPR leagues.

Fannin came out of the gate this season with a bang and hasn’t slowed down, while we’ve watched Njoku’s volume dip significantly since Week 7. As with any rookie – or player in Cleveland – there will be down weeks. With rookie Shedeur Sanders primed to start this week, this is likely one of those. But fear not, the rookie will continue to be a more-than-viable flex play the rest of this season. And, should Njoku miss any time, Fannin could sneak into the top-12 at his position as we approach the end of this season.  

Cameron White:

Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

Coming into this season, it was thought that the Jacksonville lead-back position was up for grabs. Travis Etienne‘s ADP was hovering around 90, Tank Bigsby‘s around 140, and Bhaysul Tuten’s ADP was not far behind. Etienne has proved to be the top dog all year and was a steal at his ADP. Cheers all around if you bought into the ambiguity with Etienne. On to our rook! 

To start the season, Tuten mixed in for 10-20% of snaps every week. Then the trade of Tank Bigsby to Philadelphia opened up additional opportunities for Bhayshul Tuten to showcase the athletic ability that had everyone buzzing after the NFL combine, where he posted a Relative Athletic Score of 9.55 out of 10.

Tuten broke 29 tackles and forced 66 missed tackles in his last season at Virginia Tech. Tuten was the 6th best RB in both broken tackles and forced missed tackles in a strong RB rookie class. In the NFL, Tuten has run with power and evasiveness, breaking arm tackles by defensive linemen and juking linebackers. He’s tough to get your hands on, in part due to his small stature, and when defenses do, he has enough power to stave off tackles and bully his way forward. 

His Week 11 explosion came in a game in which Jacksonville beat the Los Angeles Chargers 35-6. Tuten was involved throughout the game, and it is promising that his production didn’t happen entirely in garbage time.

We should monitor the ankle injury he sustained in the 3rd quarter of last week’s game to ensure it isn’t serious. I’m optimistic that Liam Coen will keep this offense humming and create opportunities for Tuten to generate startable fantasy weeks. Without an injury to other RBs in this backfield, we should continue to see Tuten handle 25-35% of the snaps in this offense, which will keep him in the flex conversation moving forward. If Etienne were to go down, I assume that Tuten and fellow rookie RB LeQuint Allen would have a near-even split of the RB snaps, and both would become potential flex plays with upside.

The future is bright for the Rootin’ Tuten. For more thoughts on Bhayshul Tuten, check out the Week 12 Waiver Wire Pickup & Sleepers episode from Nate and Lou. 

Bryan Rockwood:

TreVeyon Henderson, RB, New England Patriots

Real-life football is getting in the way of a good fantasy player…

Rhamondre Stevenson has missed the past three games, opening the door for fantasy football darling TreVeyon Henderson to showcase what he can do with the backfield to himself. And, wow, did he show us. Henderson’s 264 rush yards, 66 receiving yards, and five touchdowns through the last three games have all but confirmed his ability to be a playmaker in this league. Of course, all of those brilliant Optimus Fantasy readers knew this already, but I guess it took the Patriots coaching staff some time to get there.

The question that plagues us, though, is this: how do you put the genie back in the bottle? Now that you’ve seen what he can do, how do you (as the Patriots’ offensive staff) relegate him back as the number 2 option behind Rhamondre? We care about this question as fantasy managers, but even from a strictly NFL lens, it feels as though Henderson has forced himself onto the field. 

The best outcome of this backfield is to see Henderson take the majority of the 20 to 20 reps (AKA the snaps outside the red zone). This allows Henderson to have the most opportunity to spring that big play like we’ve seen a few times already. We can only hope he has something closer to a true 50/50 split with the snaps, because giving the more explosive back more touches is always good practice. As the Pats battle the Bengals, fantasy managers will once again be glued to their screens, waiting to see what Hendo can do next. 

For more advice, head over to our Discord channel and ask our analysts! For breaking news and injury updates, follow Optimus Fantasy News on Bluesky!

By Published On: November 21st, 2025

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