Adam Thielen or Tee Higgins: Which WR should I draft in Fantasy Football 2025?

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen are both two of the best wide receivers over the past five years. However, they are at very different points in their NFL journey.

Higgins recently signed a major contract extension (four year deal worth $115 million) that will both keep him in Cincinnati long-term and make him one of the highest paid wide receivers in all of football.

Meanwhile, Thielen was traded back to the Vikings after spending the last two years in Carolina. Although he has still been productive over the last few seasons, Thielen is unquestionably entering the latter stages of his accomplished career at the age of 35 right now.

With that in mind, let's take a look at who you should target in fantasy football this year.

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Adam Thielen fantasy football outlook

NFL: SEP 25 Lions at Vikings - Source: Getty nter caption

Thielen has averaged 10.6 PPR points per game in 2022, 13.6 PPR points per game in 2023, and 14.0 PPR points per game in 2024. The rate is good enough for Thielen to be placed in the WR2/3 ranks for your team during that span.

With WR's Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison unquestionably featuring ahead of him in 2025, as well as an unproven QB in J.J. McCarthy leading the unit, Thielen does not have the same value in fantasy football that he once did. Fantasy Pros is projecting Thielen as the WR64 this year.

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Tee Higgins fantasy football outlook

NFL: Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals - Source: Imagn

Higgins is in the prime of his career and is an elite route runner, a great contested catch receiver, and is someone with strong and consistent hands. Although Ja'Marr Chase is the No. 1 option in Cincinnati, QB Joe Burrow is arguably the best pocket passing quarterback in the NFL and can unquestionably provide enough volume for two receivers to be superstars in fantasy football.

Higgins has averaged 13.1 PPR points per game in 2022, 11.5 PPR points per game in 2023, and 18.5 PPR points per game in 2024. He is currently being projected by Fantasy Pros as the WR13 this year.

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Adam Thielen or Tee Higgins: Who should you draft?

We used Sportskeeda's Fantasy Football draft predictor to see whether advanced analytics point toward you selecting Adam Thielen or Tee Higgins this year.

Sportskeeda Fantasy Football Predictor

According to the predictor, Higgins was the clear favorite and should unquestionably be selected much higher than Thielen.

Higgins should be viewed as a high-end WR2 this year with weekly WR1 upside. Meanwhile, Thielen should be viewed in the WR4/5 ranks due to his role behind Jefferson and Addison on the depth chart.