Cleveland Browns’ Mayfield, Chubb, Callaway Uptrending

Antonio Callaway, Wide Receiver

Antonio Callaway seems to be getting better while under the radar. One useful but overlooked stat is receiving yards per snap. This is an indicator of how the player contributes when he is actually on the field, rather than diminishing his stats when he is not playing.

Of course no statistic is perfect, and in particular a blocking tight end like Orson Charles is short-changed by using receiving stats to judge his performance. But for comparing wide receivers, it is much more useful. Being a rookie, Callaway is still learning the ins and outs of his trade, perfecting his routes and understanding the nuances of the playbook.

In the beginning of the year, the Browns gave him a lot of snaps, and so even though he seemed to be getting decent yardage, he wasn’t really adding as much to the offense as you might guess from the yardage totals alone. Possibly they used him as a decoy to entice opposing defenses into changing their coverage schemes to provide a better matchup for Jarvis Landry and other receivers.

In recent weeks the Browns are working other players into the lineup, and have cut back on Calloway’s snaps. This appears to have actually helped him, as his production is trending higher when he does take the field. He is trending near a yard per snap in recent weeks, a significant improvement from earlier in the year.

By comparison, Rashard Higgins has been consistently at the 1 yard per snap all year. In other words, by this measure Higgines has been consistently better than Callaway in the early going, but Callaway is catching up.

Higgins’ performance in 2018 is impressive in its own right, considering that in 2017 Higgins ranked near the bottom of the NFL with only 0.47 yards/snap. He’s missed some games due to injury, but he has been much more productive when he’s been on the field.

Mayfield and Higgins had a lot of practice reps when both were listed as reserves on the depth chart, and that has to help. Also, it may be that Mayfield’s ability to throw the ball into a tighter window has increased the opportunities to use Higgins, who is a possession receiver rather than a blow the doors off 40 yard dash guy. And it may be that Higgins’ hard work is paying off.

The net result is that the Browns’ playmakers are starting to emerge on the NFL leader lists. It may be a different Browns team down the stretch.