NFL News Roundup: Jayden Higgins Out for Season, Tyler Warren Injured

We have more notable NFL news that happened on Wednesday, so let's discuss that and the fantasy football implications here.

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Higgins Out for Season

Houston Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins has a torn ACL that will cost him the upcoming NFL season.

The 23-year-old was a second-round pick a year ago, and had a pretty solid rookie campaign. Over 17 games (10 starts), Higgins caught 41 of his 68 targets for 525 yards and six touchdowns.

He was poised for more in his second NFL season, but now won't be around at all. That's a blow to the Texans in the real world, and it muddies the wide receiver room.

Nico Collins is still around to lead the way. Jaylin Noel is another 2025 draft pick who was projected to start. With Higgins now out, that opens a starting spot, and it could be filled by Tank Dell, Xavier Hutchinson or rookie Lewis Bond. Houston also has Justin Watson on the roster.

Collins is going at pick 23.57 on average. He's been a high-level fantasy wideout for several years now, and the only thing holding him back from being drafted even earlier is some injury concerns over his career. He'll continue to dominate for Houston in the upcoming season.

Higgins was going at pick 124.86, so later in standard redraft leagues. He can be skipped now, but still hold him in dynasty leagues, as he still has a bright future. Hopefully he can be 100% for next season.

Dell is coming off a major injury of his own, but has been practicing and could be ready for the upcoming regular season. His ADP is 177.71 - that should go up a bit after the Higgins' injury news. I still only like Dell in deeper leagues, but he could work back into standard leagues if he's playing/producing enough.

Noel is going at pick 263.43 on average. That should also rise after the Higgins' injury news. He will be a decent deep-league fantasy asset to kick off the 2026 season, and a bit of production could get him into standard leagues eventually.

The outlooks for David Montgomery and Woody Marks in the backfield improve after the Higgins' news. The Texans could rely a bit more on the running game, so expect both back's ADPs to rise a bit.

The injury also improves the outlook for tight end Dalton Schultz. He could be a bit better fantasy asset as a result, but is still a better deep-league option, just with more streaming upside in standard leagues now.

The injury is a slight downgrade for quarterback C.J. Stroud. He was just a deep-league option to most fantasy owners, and he'll need to deliver to work into standard leagues.

The injury hurts the Texans' real-world chances, but there's ways the team can replace Higgins and still be a force in the AFC. We'll see if the team brings in wide receiver reinforcements before the season kicks off.

Warren Dealing with Injury

Indianapolis Colts tight end Tyler Warren has a groin injury that he's now dealing with. There's no timetable for his return, but coach Shane Steichen said the team would be cautious with things.

Warren's ADP is 55 right now, and I'd expect that to drop a bit after this injury news. Hopefully, he's cleared and ready to go for the start of the regular season, but this injury could plague him all season, so now he's a riskier draft target and fantasy asset to hold.

He showed some good things as a rookie, catching 76 of his 112 targets for 817 yards and four touchdowns. Warren was expected to accomplish even more in 2026.

The injury is concerning, especially when factoring in the health of Alec Pierce, who had offseason surgery and is still struggling to get on the field. Josh Downs was the only other proven wideout on the roster until the other day, when the team signed Keenan Allen, something we discussed in another article.

If Warren ends up missing regular season time with this injury, don't expect a tight end to be thrust into a bigger role. Instead, I'd guess that Mo Alie-Cox, Drew Ogletree and Will Mallory would all chip in until Warren is back.

Pierce, Downs and Allen would have really good fantasy outlooks if Warren wasn't in the picture. And of course, you could expect running back Jonathan Taylor to be a workhorse out of the backfield. It would also hurt the fantasy outlook for quarterback Daniel Jones.

It's an injury to track, but hopefully this doesn't turn into anything worse. The Colts are already scrambling as the 2026 season nears, and while I still have them being a solid team, I think they will fall short of the postseason.

Vea Agrees to New Deal

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea will stick in Tampa Bay for at least the next two seasons after signing a one-year extension worth $30 million. He will make about $48 million over the next two seasons.

He had requested a trade earlier this year, but the extension gets him paid, and keeps him in Tampa Bay another season.

The 31-year-old has played 112 games over eight NFL seasons. Last year across 17 games, Vea had 34 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 13 QB hits, seven TFLs, two passes defensed and a fumble recovery. He's had even better years, but past his prime a bit, I'd expect more of what we saw in 2025, not what he did earlier in his career.

So Vea is still on the IDP radar, but isn't a great option. He can factor in for deeper IDP setups though, and his presence is a plus for the Buccaneers, who seem to be on a downward trend going into the new year.

We'll see if the team can surprise and come out of the NFC South again.

Chargers' Center Out Indefinitely

Los Angeles Chargers center Tyler Biadasz is out indefinitely after suffering damage to his ACL on Tuesday.

Biadasz is 28 years old and is approaching his seventh year in the NFL. He's going to be playing for his third team, and hasn't missed much time before this year.

He was brought in to start at center for LA, so that is a blow to the team's outlook in the real world. Him not being around could impact things on a fantasy level as well, both in the running and passing games.

Rookie second-round pick Jake Slaughter could be thrust into the starting lineup now. He's a high-end pick, and in time could be a good addition to the o-line, but struggles as a rookie could mean inconsistencies on offense overall for LA.

Keep that in mind as you draft the likes of Justin Herbert, Omarion Hampton, Ladd McConkey, Oronde Gadsden and more.

Diggs Signing with Seahawks

Trevon Diggs is signing a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks to provide some cornerback help.

The Seahawks are planning on signing Terrion Arnold, but he has a legal issue he's facing and is likely to be suspended before the season. That means Diggs could factor in a bit, especially early in the season.

Diggs is 27 years old and has had some monster showings during his six-year career so far. He only got in nine games a year ago, and that was between two different teams. Diggs is now fighting for his NFL life.

He's still pretty buried on the depth chart, as Seattle has Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe as the projected starting cornerbacks. The Seahawks have Nick Emmanwori as the projected nickelback, plus Nehemiah Pritchett and rookies Julian Neal, Andre Fuller and Michael Dansby. Noah Igbinoghene and D'Anthony Bell are also options.

I don't see Diggs factoring in a bunch, or being a big IDP option if he's playing enough snaps. He's a big enough name to mention him here though, just in case he regains his old form and takes off on a stellar defense.