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Week 11 fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Jayden Higgins, Cedric Tillman, Luther Burden III in 2025. Read their waiver wire outlooks for fantasy football.
The second half of the 2025 NFL season is underway with Week 10 wrapping up, a point of the season when we typically start to see rookie players really emerge. That rang true for the rookie wide receivers this week, with five total touchdowns scored, the most in any week this season.
In this article, we'll evaluate whether to add two rookie wideouts in Jayden Higgins and Luther Burden III, along with another young player who made his return from injury in Week 10, Cedric Tillman.
So, should you pick up Higgins, Tillman, or Burden in your fantasy football leagues for Week 11 of 2025? Let's dive in.
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Jayden Higgins Week 11 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 17.1% of ESPN Leagues
Baller Move: Add in 12+ Team Leagues
Higgins was a part of the group of rookie wideouts that scored in Week 10, catching five of his seven targets for 42 yards and his third touchdown of the season. The seven targets were the second-highest in a game for the rookie second-rounder, while the five receptions and 42 receiving yards marked a career high.
The 22-year-old only ran 49% of the team's routes, however, behind Xavier Hutchinson, Dalton Schultz, and Nico Collins. Higgins has dipped below 50% routes in each of the past two games with Collins back in the lineup, after posting a team-high 78.6% in Week 8 without him.
The usage for Houston's rookie wideouts remains frustrating, as both Higgins and fellow rookie Jaylin Noel have delivered when given opportunities. Higgins a least drew a respectable number of first-read looks in Week 10, ranking third behind Collins (36.1%) and Schultz (22.2%) in first-read target share at 16.7%, per Fantasy Points Data Suite. Hutchinson ran more routes, but had zero first-read looks.
Higgins TD!
📺 : @nfloncbs pic.twitter.com/AbdUd9024F
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 9, 2025
Collins is the clear alpha in the Texans' pass game and has started to regain his dominant 2024 form of late. Ideally, Higgins works into the full-time boundary receiver spot opposite Collins while also being moved into the slot occasionally, but we haven't seen that yet. The rookie from Iowa State is a fluid mover at 6'4", 215 pounds with day two draft capital, and he has impressed when on the field this season. Higgins is worth adding and holding in 12-team leagues and deeper to see how his role evolves over the coming weeks.
Cedric Tillman Week 11 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 14.2% of ESPN Leagues
Baller Move: Leave on Waivers
Tillman was placed on injured reserve after Week 4 due to a hamstring injury, but made his return in Week 10 against the New York Jets, catching two of his four targets for 11 yards. Positively, the 25-year-old came back and played close to a full-time role like he had earlier in the season, posting a 67.4% route share, third on the team in Week 10 behind Jerry Jeudy and Harold Fannin Jr.
The third-year wideout should ramp back up and be close to a 75% route share for the rest of the season as the top wide receiver target alongside Jeudy. Cleveland's quartet of Tillman, Jeudy, Fannin, and David Njoku is expected to account for the bulk of the targets for the remainder of the season, though head coach Kevin Stefanski has also leaned more on rookie RB Quinshon Judkins and the ground game since rookie Dillon Gabriel became the starting QB in Week 5.
Since Week 5, the Browns have a -5% pass rate over expectation and the second-lowest early down pass rate (41.6%), per RBSDM.com. The pass volume won't be there to support multiple pass catchers, and the QB play has been so poor that even if there was more volume, it'd still be tough for Tillman to be a big-time fantasy producer. The pass game has flowed through Jeudy and Fannin over the past handful of games, and I'd expect that to remain pretty similar.
HOW did this get through to Cedric Tillman?!
CLEvsBAL on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/lQvCLggzEe
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
Tillman flashed real target-earning ability and strong production over a four-game stretch last season with Jameis Winston under center. He had a decent first four games to open 2025, catching 11 of his 20 targets for 106 yards and two touchdowns, but his offensive environment has changed since then. Tillman can likely be left on the waiver wire in 12-team and shallower leagues for Week 11.
Luther Burden III Week 11 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 5% of ESPN Leagues
Baller Move: Add in 12-team leagues
Burden returned in Week 10 after missing Chicago's Week 9 win over Cincinnati due to a concussion. The rookie wideout again looked great when he was out on the field, catching all three of his targets for 51 yards. Burden posted his highest route share of the season at 46.3%, which is great to see.
We still want to see that number eventually surpass Olamide Zaccheaus for things to get really interesting from a fantasy perspective. Zaccheaus has been heavily involved the entire season, with his lowest route share in a game being 45% all the way back in Week 2. But the veteran had what was likely his worst game of the season against the Giants, recording just one catch for five yards on four targets to go with two drops, per PFF.
However, that may not be totally necessary after D.J. Moore left Week 10 early with a shoulder injury. Moore has been a mainstay on the injury report over the past few weeks, battling groin and hip injuries, and his status for Week 11 is very much up in the air. That would open up a full-time opportunity for Burden, which is an exciting development for the rookie.
This route by Luther Burden wow. Sells vertical. Quick in and out of the break great reactive catch.
Give this man more targets. #DaBears #Bears pic.twitter.com/NdwipjPaxw
— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) November 9, 2025
The rookie second-rounder out of Missouri is a sudden mover with elite ball-in-hand ability and has consistently made big plays when his number is called. The knock on him as a prospect was that he was a gadgety player with a lack of nuance as a route runner. That hasn't played out so far in the NFL, as he has consistently created separation in man coverage situations.
Among Bears wide receivers, Burden has the highest yards per target at 12.33, with fellow rookie Colston Loveland the next closest at 9.97. Out of 187 WRs and TEs with at least 75 routes this season, Burden's 0.56 fantasy points per route run ranks 10th highest, per Fantasy Points Data Suite. If Burden sees increased playing time over the second half of the season, his upside makes him a must-add off the waiver wire for Week 11.
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