Bengals' other NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate is receiver Tee Higgins

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is the +225 favorite on the moneyline odds at William Hill sportsbook to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and he should be favored considering Burrow was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. However, could another Bengals rookie win the award instead? Receiver Tee Higgins is +2500.

On the CBS Sports Big Board, Clemson's Higgins was ranked as the No. 4 wideout in the Class of 2020 and 26th overall player. The Bengals selected him with the first pick of the second round. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Higgins had 59 catches for 1,167 yards and 13 touchdowns (second most in school history) last season in being named first-team All-ACC.

The Bengals likely targeted Higgins with the expectation that 32-year-old AJ Green will be playing his final season in Cincinnati this year. Green, who missed all of 2019 with an ankle injury, is playing on the franchise tag and none too happy about. Higgins said he became a Bengals fan after they drafted Green in 2011.

Former Clemson receivers coach Jeff Scott, now the head coach at South Florida, has compared Higgins to former Tigers star DeAndre Hopkins because of Higgins' massive catch radius. Higgins was measured with an 81-inch wingspan at this year's combine, 1 inch longer than Hopkins'.

The question is whether Higgins will get enough touches to warrant Rookie of the Year consideration as he would presumably be behind Green and Tyler Boyd in the pecking order. Higgins did have one advantage entering camp, though, in that he got in some catching sessions with Burrow this offseason, while Green and Boyd didn't.

The Bengals have never had a quarterback win Offensive Rookie of the Year, but they have had two receivers win it: Eddie Brown in 1985 and Carl Pickens in 1992. Green got some votes in 2011 but lost out to then-Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. 

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