HOUSTON – A young Jayden Higgins tapped his cleats rapid-fire as he accelerated into a precise pattern on a nearly empty practice field flanked by palm trees.
Reacting fast to the directions of Ed Gant, his longtime mentor and private coach, Higgins’ literal growth and his advancement into an NFL rookie wide receiver who landed a history-making $11.7 million fully guaranteed contract were all on display in a training video.
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Higgins is shown from his time as an elementary school student during his formative years as a player, through his college days, snagging footballs out of the air, including a remarkable one-handed catch. Higgins’ rise into a big, strong, fast 6-foot-4, 214-pound second-round draft pick was launched by a remarkable backstory.
Higgins is a classic late bloomer.
A former two-star recruit at Westminster Christian High School, Higgins went overlooked at nearly every stage of the talent evaluation process until the most important one: the NFL draft.
Before Higgins emerged, though, as the Texans’ top draft pick as the 34th overall selection and signing the first fully guaranteed deal for a second-round draft pick in NFL history, he was told no several times by the college football world.
That wasn’t from a lack of effort as Gant, a former Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver, persistently lobbied coaches from Florida schools, including the University of Miami in Higgins’ hometown. No major college football program offered him a scholarship.
Higgins ultimately signed with Eastern Kentucky, where he excelled so much he outgrew the Football Championship Subdivision school and entered the NCAA transfer portal before becoming a third-team All-American and second-team All-Big 12 selection at Iowa State.
For the Cyclones and coach Matt Campbell and position coach Noah Pauley, Higgins developed into one of the most dangerous receivers in college football.
The rest is history as Higgins, who has been coached by Gant since he was 11 years old, joined the Texans 11 years later and is now regarded as an NFL rookie poised to make an impact with his rare combination of size, speed and hands.
“You can see the growth from when he was small, and it shows where he comes from, his journey and the grind he puts into his work,’” Gant told KPRC 2 in a telephone interview. “Jayden put in so much work. I tried to tell Miami, ‘There’s this great kid in your backyard. You need to see him. You just don’t find a 6-4 kid who can move this way.’ The Florida schools overlooked him, and that kind of put a spark into him.”
Before Higgins grew into his frame and became an elite receiver, he had to commit to football as his main sport. He was a basketball player primarily since elementary school until transferring to Westminster Christian after his sophomore year at Gulliver Prep’s Upper School and becoming a full-time football player.
“That’s when it all clicked for him,” Gant said. “Jayden is a true basketball player.”
Higgins had played basketball since the third grade and was known as a natural shooter who elevated over defenders around the rim.
“Basketball was definitely huge for me,” Higgins said. “Just being able to move in tight spaces, knowing how to set people up, knowing how to use your leverage to win and really just being mobile, being elusive and shifty.”
Before Higgins signed with Eastern Kentucky, he was ranked as the 459th wide receiver in the nation and the 367th best player overall in the state of Florida.
Being underrated, being an afterthought, has provided a lot of motivational fuel for Higgins.
“For me, at the end of the day, it’s always been a look at yourself in the mirror type of thing,” Higgins said. “I’m just trying to be the best version of myself. I’m going to pick certain people’s brain and see what they do well and try to take it. I’m trying to be the best version of myself and show that when you’re out there on the field.”
It became evident that Higgins needed a greater challenge athletically than what he was getting at Eastern Kentucky at a lower level of college football. After catching 58 passes for 757 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore, Higgins decided it was time to enter the portal.
“I have the utmost respect for Eastern Kentucky because they gave him a shot when no one else was making that commitment to him,” Gant said. “When he jumped into the portal, there was no bad blood. They were happy for him to move up.
“They knew this kid was supposed to be somewhere bigger. They knew he was one of the top receivers in college football and they were lucky to have him. For Iowa State to open their doors to him, it was beautiful how they trusted and believed in Jayden. Look how things worked out.”
Higgins made an immediate impact for the Cyclones with 53 catches for 983 yards and six touchdowns in his first season in the Big 12 as an honorable-mention all-conference selection. He took it up a notch last year in his final college football season as he caught 87 passes for 1,185 yards and nine touchdowns.
“He’s one of the best I’ve been around, and that’s where you gotta have a little bit of confidence,” said Pauley, the Cyclones’ receivers coach and passing game coordinator. “I just knew he was going to be a high-end pick and whatever team that got him was going be extremely pleased because of obviously what he brings on the football field, but just how he carries himself off the field and how he prepares himself and how he just he always plays and does everything with a chip on his shoulder.
“Jayden has this mindset where whether he’s playing the slot or playing outside that he’s gonna find a way to get open and go make the play and he consistently did that for us. Wanting to play at the highest level like he just keeps pushing himself and trying to prove others wrong. So, I think where he ended up is a perfect spot. I think it’s going to be a great fit for him, and I’m excited to see what he does within that offense.”
Higgins was selected for the prestigious Senior Bowl all-star game, where he met with the Texans, before excelling at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis as he had a formal interview with the defending AFC South champions.
Now, Higgins is part of an offense headlined by quarterback C.J. Stroud and Pro Bowl wide receiver Nico Collins along with Christian Kirk, Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon and his Iowa State teammate and fellow rookie receiver Jaylin Noel.
“Houston is headed in a direction that’s going to surprise a lot of people,” Gant said. “They’re making chess moves with the coaching staff and their general manager, Nick Caserio.”
At 6-4, 222 pounds with 4.44 speed, Collins has a similar frame and athleticism to Higgins.
Higgins has the speed to create separation with a 4.47 time in the 40-yard dash and a 1.53 10-yard split. He has serious hops with a 39-inch vertical leap and a 10-8 broad jump.
He’s much larger than the defensive backs tasked with covering him and has a huge catch radius.
There are some parallels between Higgins and Collins as bigger receivers who use their size to their advantage to jump over and box out smaller defensive backs.
“It’s definitely a big element of my game,” Higgins said. “It’s what makes me so versatile. My size allows me to be able to be a big receiver on the outside, but what makes it different is I’m versatile. I can run any route in the route tree and I can make plays from anywhere on the field. So, it’s definitely something that I’m continue to use and uses my strength.
“Nico being a big receiver, I definitely like to watch his film. Really what I see from his game is just how explosive he is. He’s also very physical and fast, really just a great vertical threat. I’ll definitely try to pick his mind and see how I can implement some of those things that he has in my game as well.”
The Texans see enough value in Higgins that they made him their first pick of the draft, two selections into the second round after trading back with the New York Giants out of the first round.
Higgins is the equivalent of the Texans’ unofficial first-round draft pick. They treated him that way contractually by guaranteeing his entire four-year deal for skill, injury and salary cap in a deal negotiated by Chris Cabott, the CEO of Equity Sports. The unprecedented contract includes a $5.149 million signing bonus.
“It feels great,” Higgins said. “All props to my agent, Chris Cabott. At the end of the day, I just wanted to come here and compete and show that I belong here. My expectations are to compete. Take it day by day, wherever that leads me, that is going to lead me, but I am always going to put my best foot forward.”
When Higgins isn’t playing football, he can be found on a lake with a fishing pole, frequently with Noel whom he shared an online fishing Tiktok channel in college called J&J Fishing, or with his family and girlfriend. He’s a focused. mature 22-year-old.
“Jayden is a very easygoing kid, very quiet, very family-oriented guy,” Gant said. “Give him cleats, give him a football and he’s going to bust his ass for you. He has a really tight inner circle. He’s not flashy. He’s authentic and organic.
“That comes from his upbringing with his mother and father. He has great parents. They raised him right. He’s a very simple guy who’s going to spend time with his girlfriend. He doesn’t go out hardly ever. He’s going to come to work, go home and go fishing. The Texans made a very smart decision by drafting and investing in Jayden’s future.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
