Clemson Football: How did Tee Higgins fall to second round of NFL draft?

Clemson football’s Tee Higgins fell to the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. How the heck did that happen to a potential star NFL wide out?

Standing 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds and coming off a 1,000-yard season as a junior with national runner-up Clemson, Tee Higgins seemed like the closest thing to a first-round lock as a receiver in the 2020 NFL Draft.

But then he went 32 picks without hearing his name called, going into Day 2 as the top prospect left on the board and the Bengals wasted no time selecting him with that first pick on Friday.

So how did he fall to the seventh receiver chosen in the draft behind guys like Brandon Aiyuk, Jalen Reagor and some even believed he was a better prospect than Justin Jefferson?

With the draft being so receiver-heavy, it wasn’t a major surprise even though he had first-round talent and the frame to be one of those jump-ball threats as well. Every team wants a receiver who stands 6-foot-4 and who runs a 4.54 40-yard dash. Heck, the fact that he caught 27 touchdown passes in three years just proves that he’s a massive threat to score at any time.

Some teams believed that other receivers fit their scheme better, but with NFL.com giving him the player comparison of AJ Green, it made sense that he fell to the Bengals at the top of round two.

Higgins finished his Clemson career with 135 catches for 2,448 yards and 27 touchdowns, scoring on 20 percent of his receptions. He also has big-game experience which should help him at the next level and it wouldn’t be all that shocking to see him develop into one of Joe Burrow’s favorite targets right away.

Cincinnati got a steal at the top of the second round and while it may be mind-boggling that Higgins wasn’t a top-32 pick, he’ll be a star at the next level.