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Should I pickup Christian Kirk or Jayden Higgins as fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 13 of 2025? Read our fantasy football waiver wire outlooks.
The Houston Texans upset the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night to get above .500 for the first time this season, with Christian Kirk and rookie Jayden Higgins both scoring touchdowns and leading the team in targets.
C.J. Stroud is still in concussion protocol as of Monday afternoon, which would put Davis Mills in line to make his fourth consecutive start. Mills has been solid with Stroud sidelined, with Kirk and Higgins both posting their best fantasy performances of the season with Mills under center.
So should you pick up Kirk or Higgins ahead of Week 13? Let's dive in.
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Christian Kirk Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Outlook
Kirk was a key offseason acquisition for the Texans, but he has battled injuries over the first half of the season and has had underwhelming production. In his first six games played, the 29-year-old totaled just 16 receptions for 144 yards and no touchdowns while operating predominantly out of the slot, per usual.
However, the veteran had his best game of the season in Week 12 with five catches (six targets) for 54 yards and a touchdown, finishing with 16.4 PPR points. Despite the strong game, Kirk actually had his lowest route share of the season (38.7%) with rookie Jaylin Noel posting his highest route share in a game with Kirk active (35.6%). So they essentially split routes out of the slot in the game, but Kirk was targeted on 50% of his routes, per Fantasy Points Data Suite.
There goes Christian Kirk for 33 yards!
BUFvsHOU on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/f8h5FRv5WG— NFL (@NFL) November 21, 2025
One could expect Kirk's route share to climb back closer to his season average (57%) in future weeks after his best game, but Noel has also been productive in his limited sample of routes. Kirk doesn't have a ton of upside as the third option in a Texans offense that likes to run the ball a decent amount as well. But he could be trending up after a tough start to the season and be a worthwhile add in deeper PPR leagues.
Jayden Higgins Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Outlook
Higgins turned in one of the most exciting rookie performances of the week on Thursday night against the Bills, recording four catches for 38 yards and a touchdown on a season-high nine targets. The 34th overall pick in this past year's draft could have had a much bigger day, with multiple missed opportunities near the sideline where he failed to get his feet in bounds. And then Mills just flat-out missed him when he created clear separation on a few other targets.
There was still plenty to like about the performance and how he's trended over the past few games. Since Week 8, the Iowa State product has a 26% targets per route run and a 0.101 Separation Score against man and zone, per Fantasy Points Data Suite. His 26% TPRR is a top 15 mark among all wide receivers with at least 100 routes in that span, and just below Nico Collins (27%), while his separation score ranks seventh, right between Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson.
Jayden Higgins shook free for 6️⃣ pic.twitter.com/vKOOObuiUa
— NFL (@NFL) November 21, 2025
The Texans have toyed around with the best ways to use Higgins, aligning him in the slot for some plays and sending him in motion fairly frequently. The rookie looks like he is finally becoming a full-time player, posting a 67.7% route share in Week 12, his highest in a game with Collins active. It was a clear three-man show for Houston against the Bills, with Collins, Higgins, and tight end Dalton Schultz all clearing 20 routes, but Kirk being the next highest at 12.
Should I Pickup Christian Kirk or Jayden Higgins For Fantasy Football?
Higgins would clearly be the higher priority pickup between the two and one of the hottest adds of the week. The rookie is an ascending player whose role looks like it is finally expanding. We shouldn't expect Higgins to out-target Collins to the degree he did against Buffalo on Thursday night, with Collins only having three, but Higgins could be one of the rookie wide receivers who breaks out over the second half of the season.
Doing an early update to the WR/CB spreadsheet for Week 13 @RotoBallerNFL.
22 wide receivers had a 25% target per route rate before Sunday Night Football in Weeks 11-12.
📈Jayden Higgins is second in TPRR and 25th in YPRR
🚀Michael Wilson is fifth in TPRR and fifth in YPRR pic.twitter.com/sal3mX4ojC— Corbin (@corbin_young21) November 24, 2025
Kirk has long been a high-floor player in PPR leagues, but with alpha wideout in Collins, an emerging rookie in Higgins, and a reliable tight end in Schultz, it is tough for Kirk to generate the number of targets needed to be fantasy viable in 12-team leagues. And with him and Noel splitting routes in Week 12, his outlook is a tad murky despite a season-best performance. Kirk remains useful in deeper leagues, but can likely be left on the waiver wire in 12-team leagues.
Who Should I Pickup Tool
Trying to decide who to pick up off the waiver wire? Check the Who Should I Pickup tool here:
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to pickup...
Who Should I Pickup? Some common 2025 fantasy football waiver wire decisions are regarding players like Christian Kirk, Jayden Higgins, Trey Benson, Jayden Reed, Colston Loveland, Devin Neal. But not to worry, we are here to help make these waiver wire decisions and build winning teams in 2025. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups in 2025. Our free Who Should I Pickup? tool will help make your fantasy football waiver wire decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to pick up... all free! Make the right decisions.
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Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Pickup
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Pickup tool for 2025 for Christian Kirk, Jayden Higgins, Trey Benson, Jayden Reed, Colston Loveland, Devin Neal:
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