Cleveland Browns should look for Higgins 2.0 for Baker Mayfield

The Cleveland Browns could use some help in the wide receiver department and so this weekend there is some chance that they will come away with a new draftee. This analyst has no idea who they will draft, but maybe we can figure out what to look for.

The career of Rashard Higgins tells us a lot about Baker Mayfield as well as his predecessor, DeShone Kizer. Higgins did not have blazing speed, 4.64 seconds, and so he went in the fifth round to the Browns in 2016.

He scarcely played his rookie year, with only 183 snaps. When he was on the field, the quarterbacks (that year they had about six to choose from, since they did not better to pass block) did not look for him. His targets per snaps were only 0.66, a very low number, and as a result, he wound up with only six catches and 77 yards on the season

Higgins actually played quite a bit in 2017 with Kizer as his quarterback. 663 offensive snaps were his career-high, by plenty. Higgins usually caught the ball when Kizer would throw to him (54.0 catch percentage), but Kizer hardly ever threw to him (0.75 targets per snap, which was not much higher than his rookie year). Higgins just could not get open, or at least could not get open enough for Kizer to hit him.

Enter Baker Mayfield in 2018, and Higgins was able to develop some rapport with him while working together in practice for the second-string offense.  When Mayfield was promoted, suddenly Higgins became a topflight receiver. Mayfield had the reputation of being able to process information rapidly, make his decision and get the ball airborne in a hurry and accurately to a tight window.

If Higgins was open by a half step, it may not have been enough for Kizer, but it was enough for Mayfield. Rather than throwing the ball at his numbers, Mayfield might throw the ball low where only Higgins could catch the ball and not the defensive back, and it worked.

Here is a stat for you:  Higgins had 180 fewer snaps than in 2017, but had 572 yards with Mayfield versus 312 yards with Kizer. What an unbelievable difference. Higgins’ catch percentage was 73.6 percent and his targets per snap rose to 0.110. If Higgins had played full time at the same effectiveness, he would have been over 1000 yards for the year.

By contrast, the Browns had another wide receiver taken in the 2016 draft, namely Corey Coleman, who was taken in the first round. He had exhibited blazing speed, clocking a 4.37-second 40-yard dash at his Pro Day. He could get open enough for DeShone Kizer to hit him, with 0.129 targets per snap in 2017, except that he rarely caught the ball, with a catch percentage of 39.7 percent. That was one of the worst in the NFL.

So, why don’t the Browns just re-sign Higgins, since he is still out there as a free agent?  The question is probably about his health. Last year he had a bad knee and feuded with coach Freddie Kitchens and his numbers reverted back to his rookie year levels, with 0.64 targets/snap and a catch percentage of 36.4 percent.

Even when he was on the field, the low targets per snap show that  Mayfield was no longer looking for him, and instead directed most of his passes to stars Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham, Jr. Higgins also fought with coach Freddie Kitchens, and allegedly refused to go on the field when ordered to do so in the Seattle game. In any case, here it is just before the NFL draft and Higgins does not have a team. There’s just a big question mark at this point whether he can get back to the level he was at in 2018.

The takeaway is that Baker Mayfield does not need a 4.3 guy who can’t catch the ball.  Get a guy who can run a good pattern and make a tough catch and Baker will get the ball to a guy like that even if he is slow as molasses.

At the same time, the roster is once again heavy with tight ends and running backs, so it is not like the Browns will play a run and shoot offense with a lot of opportunities for the third and fourth wide receiver.  The Browns are looking for a player who can compete with the likes of Damion Ratley and KhaDarel Hodge.

That sounds like a day three pick, or perhaps even an undrafted free agent to be signed after the draft. Unless there is an unexpected trade involving Jarvis Landry or OBJ, it is unlikely that the Browns will invest a high pick on a wide receiver this year.