A wide receiver looks back at the 2020 draft in hindsight
One wide receiver recently made a stunning admission about their draft position. Most players dream of being taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. Cincinnati Bengals star Tee Higgins recently explained why he’s glad to have fallen into the second round of the 2020 draft.
Higgins was a guest on the Mad Dog Sports Radio show this week. He said during the interview that he thought the Green Bay Packers were going to draft him in the first round.
“I thought [the Packers] were going to draft me in that spot, but they didn’t, and I fell to the second round. Which I’m okay with,” Higgins said. He said he feels like his in the “perfect” spot with the Bengals, especially teaming up with quarterback Joe Burrow.
Higgins said he expected to hear his name called when the Packers traded for the 26th spot. “I was just like, ‘wow, well, it is what it is. Somebody’s going to take me'”, he said.
"I thought they were going to draft me in that spot." #Bengals superstar @teehiggins5 tells @AdamSchein he thought the #Packers were going to take him in the 2020 NFL Draft.
LISTEN⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/dwyAGbIqFO
— Mad Dog Sports Radio (@MadDogRadio) February 10, 2023
The Packers drafted Jordan Love instead
The Packers chose quarterback Jordan Love with that pick instead of Higgins. Three seasons later, it’s too early to tell if the Packers made the right choice. Love hasn’t shown the ability that his first-round colleague Burrow did. (I think it’s fair to say if Love had Burrow’s talent, he’d have been a starter by now, and Aaron Rodgers would not have been given the contract extension in 2022.)
Higgins is the number two wide receiver for the Bengals’ receiving corps. Ja’Marr Chase is the Bengals’ best wideout. However, Higgins would be the Packers’ number-one wide receiver following the Davante Adams trade.
Rodgers thought the Packers would take a wide receiver with that pick and seemed frustrated by the decision. Rodgers had a point. Higgins would have made the Packers a playoff team this year. But Higgins would not have made the 2022 Packers a Super Bowl contender.
But if Love can replace Rodgers to become the franchise quarterback in Green Bay, no one will bat an eye at missing on Higgins. Franchise quarterbacks can keep teams in the Super Bowl hunt longer than wide receivers. That decision ultimately made sense to general manager Brian Gutekunst on draft night in 2020. This offseason will show if Gutekunst played the right cards.
