Experts deliver bold takes on Texans draft picks Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel

On Reception Perception: The Show, Matt Harmon and James Koh broke down two key members of the Houston Texans’ draft class—wide receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel from Iowa State—and what Houston’s rookies will bring to the Texans’ offense.

James Koh opened with a confident prediction about Higgins’ NFL role: “I would bet a million dollars. We’re going to see Jayden Higgins switch inside, right? Get into that slot position. We’re going to look a little play action. Higgins beats him over the top. Touchdown.”

Koh praised the Texans’ approach, saying, “Houston in one off season, in one day, remakes and rebuilds their wide receiver room. I love what Houston did here.”

Matt Harmon broke down why Higgins’ college usage wasn't necessarily indicative of his potential. “A plus. Love it. I also love it for both players. As we’ve talked about, Jayden Higgins is a guy that—I was lower on than consensus rankings. I didn’t have him necessarily ranked as the wide receiver five in this class or anything like that because of the risk that he would go to a team that would look at him and say, big guy, 4.4 [40 time], that’s our X receiver. He has to play outside just like he did at Iowa State [where] he was primarily outside, on the line of scrimmage.”

Harmon explained, ”And you saw the results of that. 15th percentile success rate versus man coverage, 16th percentile success rate versus press coverage.”

Koh didn’t hesitate to react: "Yikes. Not what we want.” Harmon then explained why Houston is a better fit for Higgins: “The Houston Texans employ a man named Nico Collins, who is an X receiver. Jayden Higgins, he’s going to take some snaps at X, sure, but he is not their X receiver. This is a huge win for the Jayden Higgins Bros. Congratulations, he went to a team that is going to line him up the way he should be. He’s probably going to be a power slot player.”

Harmon pointed out that new offensive coordinator Nick Caley’s background with the Rams and Patriots means Higgins could thrive as a big slot receiver in Houston’s scheme.

Koh also highlighted Noel’s importance: “Can we be real here? Jaylin Noel was a more important wide receiver to Iowa State than Jayden Higgins. And I get the traits, and that’s why you take Jayden Higgins before Jaylin Noel, but when they played on the football field, Matt, on the exact same team, on the exact same field, Jaylin Noel was more important to an offense than Jayden Higgins.”

Harmon added context on Noel’s NFL potential, noting his 74.1% success rate versus man coverage and his versatility. He summed up Houston’s new-look offense: “Think about this offensively. You’ve got Nico Collins as the X…You’ve got Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins, two guys who have played together, have chemistry, have communication.”

Harmon added, with a small caveat, “That suddenly looks really good for Houston. As long as the pass protection holds up, that looks really, really good for Houston.”