Cleveland Browns: Stats show Breshad Perriman, Rashard Higgins stand out

Of all the Cleveland Browns wide receviers, the stats show how Breshad Perriman and Rashard Higgins stand out.

Among Cleveland Browns’ wide receiver stats, Breshad Perriman and Rashard Higgins stand out statistically in 2018, according to yards per snap (total receiving yards divided by the number of plays that the player lined up for) and catch percentage (total catches divided by total targeted balls).

Conversely, Jarvis Landry did not have the same type of year he had with the Dolphins, where he was mentioned as a possible future Hall of Famer.  That may be an exaggeration, but even so his performance in Cleveland was not at the same level. Also, Antonio Callaway had a good rookie year, but not outstanding.

Although no stat is perfect, receiving yards per snap is usually more useful than total receiving yards, because it covers only the plays that the player was actually on the field. It doesn’t account for the fact that some players only appear in passing situations. Similarly, catch percentage gives an idea of how good the player is at actually receiving the ball.  Like virtually all receiving stats, you have to keep in mind that the coverages are also not the same for all players. In particular the best receivers are usually covered by the best defensive backs.

There are also situations like the inimitable Josh Gordon, who only had 69 snaps, and most of those were as a decoy because he didn’t learn the playbook while in rehab.  Similarly, we did not see much of Derrick Willies, who went on injured reserve early in the year. But the rookie was starting to get playing time and posted 2.03 yards per snap and a catch percentage of 60.0 percent. So let’s not get too excited because of the limited playing time, but let’s give him a good long look during camp, shall we?

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The major up-and-coming stars of 2018 were Perriman, who is a free agent this off-season, and Higgins. Not counting Willies and his 30 snaps, Perriman led the team with 1.56 yards per snap. His catch percentage of 64.0 percent was good as well. Did we mention he ran a 4.19 40-yard dash at the combine?  That is Neon-Deion type speed! What gives with this guy who was so terrible that he was cut by the Baltimore Ravens?

When a guy has that kind of speed, offensive coordinators like to send them downfield a lot.  They can try to draw coverage from the opponents best defensive back, and maybe get him winded, and maybe even catch a few deep balls.

In Baltimore’s case, they have to face the fact (but didn’t, apparently) that Joe Flacco’s arm is just not what it used to be.  He wasn’t nearly as good at throwing the 50 yard bombs that he did ten years ago. In any case, Perriman posted a horrific 0.2 receiving yards per snap, and a 28.6 percent catch percentage.

On the other hand, the Browns figured out that Perriman could actually receive the ball from a quarterback with the arm to hit him. Again, there is not a huge data sample, but as the season went on, Perriman started to get better. His yards per snap were definitely trending upward. Both his yardage totals and yards per snap improved.

Of course there was a lot of change going on at that time, so it would be difficult to say how much Perriman improved by himself versus the forces around him. But one way or the other, he was achieving at a star level in 2018.

Higgins was a similar story. With DeShone Kizer at quarterback, HIggins had trouble getting open, though he usually caught the ball when it was thrown to him (54.0 percent catch percentage). Baker Mayfield is able to throw the ball into a much tighter window, and suddenly Higgins is open enough to catch the ball.

In 2017, Higgins had only 312 yards on 663 snaps, or 0.47 yards per snap, one of the worst in the NFL. But in 2018 he took a step forward, with a drastic reduction in total snaps due to injuries as well as the need to share time with other NFL caliber receivers, but a major increase in yards to 572.

Not everything was a bed of roses, however. Landry made the Pro Bowl, although his yards per snap and catch percentage were not that exciting. Landry was asked to do more with the Browns, rather than only playing in the slot for Adam Gase’s offense in Miami.  In any case the Baker Effect did not propel him forward as it did for Perriman and Higgins. Or could it be that Gase was able to use Landry more effectively?

Similarly, Callaway played a lot, though not necessarily better than his teammates. His numbers are not impressive, although of course he was just a rookie. Still, given his history of off-field issues, the Browns would do well to avoid levying too much responsibility on his shoulders too soon.  The method of Hue Jackson (or was it really Todd Haley) to punish the kid by giving him more playing time in the preseason made zero sense, and is the exact opposite of what to do with a talented but troubled kid who needs some structure.

If you stand back and look at the wide receivers as a group, the guys who performed at a lower level played more, whereas the guys who performed at the highest level (Perriman and Higgins) received fewer snaps than Landry and Callaway.  The intangibles (experience, leadership, toughness, blocking, moxie) greatly favor Landy however, and not so much Callaway. It would not be a shock to see Perriman, Ratley or even Willies move ahead of Callaway on the depth chart in 2019.