Next Man Up
By: Josh Thornton
Injuries happen… definitely more so in a year with an abbreviated offseason training program. The Browns have been no strangers to injury this season with Greedy Williams missing the whole season so far, and multiple other notables like Chubb, Mack and Teller missing time for some injury related circumstance. Oh, and we are only through seven weeks of NFL football. When will it stop?!?! Well… it won’t.
As a continuance of our injury streak we saw the Browns most polarizing player go down with a torn ACL on the second offensive play last Sunday. Odell Beckham’s season came to an end while trying to make a tackle after a Mayfield interception. For a team who uses fewer wide receivers than most, this has to be a blow, right? Maybe not the big blow you’d anticipate.
Injuries present opportunities for other players to rise to the occasion. Necessity is a funny motivator. If you scour the depths of NFL history, I’m sure you will find many instances of a big name started going down and the “next man up” stepping in and getting the job done. Maybe not to a superstar level, but serviceable enough for sure. I have a sneaking suspicion that we will witness a similar circumstance with Rashard Higgins seeing more playing time in relief of OBJ, but in the WR2 spot. One could argue that we may not notice much of a drop off in production at all. Let’s dive deeper.
Hollywood came to Cleveland in 2016 as a 5th round selection by then GM (or, more accurately, EVP of Football Operations) Sashi Brown. He didn’t see much of the field his rookie year, only logging 6 receptions on 12 targets with zero touchdowns. The next 2 seasons, 2017 and 2018, Higgins saw a significant increase in targets and catch percentage. 2018 was his “breakout” year with 53 targets and 39 receptions. That’s a catch percentage of 73.6. Larry Fitzgerald’s best season was 2015 where he logged a catch percentage of 75.2, for perspective. So yes, the 73.6% Rashard was able to achieve in 2018 is pretty damn good. He and Baker Mayfield seemed to quickly develop a reliable rapport with one another, connecting on 4 TD’s. Higgins seemed to always be where Mayfield needed him to be. They could read each other well and that led to production on the field.
Unfortunately for Hollywood, 2019 brought with it the dumpster fire that was Fred. Higgins saw significantly less playing time than he had in previous years and talk started about a rift between him and Fred. Some said the receiver was not in favor with the coach. That he was being punished for… well… something… I guess. At any rate, Rashard saw only 11 targets in 2019 and was largely uninvolved in the game plan. Remember, this was a guy who was just targeted 53 times the year prior. Weird, I know.
Well, Fred was fired… but guess who kept their job? The Browns welcomed back Higgins with a 1 year free agency deal. He took less money to remain in Cleveland. The important thing is he was given his opportunity to show that the connection he built with Mayfield was not just a flash in the pan.
The 2020 season started very slow for Rashard. Week 1 he only saw 1 target, which he caught. Targets are hard to come by when you only get 16 snaps. Week 2 rolled around and Hollywood found himself buried behind… Khadarel Hodge and JoJo Natson?? Okay, there is no way we are repeating 2019, right? Hodge and Natson both ended up being injured, providing a small crease of opportunity for Higgins. He delivered, catching 4 of the 5 passes sent his way with 2 scores over the next couple of games. The snaps increased, but It wasn’t until OBJ’s early injury in Cincinnati that Hollywood would get an extended opportunity. He played 85% of the snaps last Sunday. He delivered again with 6 targets, 6 catches and over the century mark in yards. For 2019, in limited action, that puts him at a 91.7% catch rate. Regardless of the low target numbers, the guy catches the football.
Now, I understand that catching the ball is only a portion of the equation, albeit a large one. There is a knock on Higgins. Some say his strength isn’t to be found in crisp route running or top end speed. So what? I don’t need vast improvement in either. The rapport with Baker all but nullifies the lackluster route running and scheme can compensate for speed. I want to make it very clear though… Rashard Higgins is no Odell Beckham Jr. OBJ possesses talents that very few wide receivers do. This offense doesn’t need Hollywood to be OBJ though, we need Hollywood to be Hollywood. Be there for Baker and catch touchdowns. It will work!
Although no OBJ, Higgins should be able to come close to replacing the production of OBJ. The Stefanski effect will see to that.
So… next man up.
The Red Carpet calls, Hollywood.
