Cleveland Browns Week 5 reminder of Rashard Higgins rapport with Baker Mayfield

Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield has trust in WR Rashard Higgins.

Last season and for virtually the Cleveland Browns first four games of 2020, wideout Rashard Higgins didn’t have many opportunities. Higgins missed four games due to a knee injury early on, and was seemingly in prior Cleveland head coach Freddie Kitchens’ doghouse in 2019, as he only had four catches and 11 targets in that campaign.

That was, frankly, odd at the time, as Higgins in 2018 had established a nice connection with Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield. Higgins had 39 catches for 572 yards, most of which were from Mayfield deliveries, and he had four receiving touchdowns that season, all from Mayfield.

So again, Higgins’ lack of workload and even opportunities last season was puzzling, even with Odell Beckham Jr. then arriving and Jarvis Landry a fixture as one of Cleveland’s best weapons. And looking at this 2020 season for the Browns, Higgins hasn’t had many chances in formal offense, either.

Higgins has seemingly lost out to KhaDarel Hodge, who has done a nice job in the run blocking realm, in particular, for Cleveland. For this run-oriented Browns offense, and with Cleveland utilizing multiple tight end personnel frequently, that appears to be Cleveland’s move by and large.

Nonetheless, with Hodge sidelined due to a hamstring injury as of Cleveland’s win at the Dallas Cowboys, Higgins in this past game got a chance in some key spots in the passing game, and came through versus the Indianapolis Colts. That was encouraging to see, should the Browns need him more in some matchups, whether or not Hodge eventually takes back that no. 3 receiver spot.

That game was a reminder of Higgins’ rapport with the Browns QB, too

In Cleveland’s Week 5 victory over the Colts, Higgins had a few nice connections with Mayfield, and came through when needed. While three catches for 31 yards did not indicate a ton of production, Higgins made the most of his opportunities when his number was called, and had a catch rate of 100 percent.

Most notably, watching Higgins snag a 15-yard touchdown from Mayfield, who played well generally, as DPD’s Greg Newland hit on, was awesome to see. The ensuing Hollywood red carpet celebration, one could tell, really pumped up Higgins’ teammates, such as Landry and OBJ, too, which was pretty cool in its’ own right.

https://twitter.com/Browns/status/1315404850973282314?s=20

So what does this mean going forward for Higgins’ target share/workload going forward? It’s still tough to say overall, especially given how even sans Nick Chubb for a while yet, Cleveland will still pounding the ball with Kareem Hunt, and a bit with D’Ernest Johnson.

Regardless of what eventually plays out with Hodge, if he’s given the opportunities, Higgins is more than capable of delivering when his number’s called in the receiving department. Higgins, who had 27 catches in 2017 in his first year really getting time offensively, has more so made his presence felt once Mayfield took over for the Cleveland Browns.

Mostly with Mayfield as his signal-caller in 2018, QB’s had a rating of 117.8 when targeting Higgins, who had a catch rate then of 73.6 percent.

In any case, while it’s evident that Higgins is hardly high on the receiving totem pole, also factoring in Landry, Beckham, Austin Hooper, Hunt and/or Harrison Bryant (to some degree), it’s clear that Mayfield definitely trusts Higgins. And Hollywood’s performance versus Indy on Sunday was a reminder of how him and Mayfield have a good rapport, which should be meaningful for Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski and company.

We’ll have to see ultimately what that means for Higgins looking onward. But perhaps we’ll see more cellys from him and the pass catchers and Mayfield in coming games. That’s provided Mayfield can battle through a rib injury, of which he seemingly will, given recent comments, as DPD’s Randy Gurzi alluded to.

It was refreshing to see Higgins hit pay dirt again, either way, though, and Mayfield, one would assume, was really pumped about it.