Cleveland Browns: Will Rashard Higgins be a breakout player?

What will Rashard Higgins bring to the Cleveland Browns?

With Odell Beckham, Jr. suffering a tragic and season-ending injury in the Cleveland Browns 37-34 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals, it’s essential that someone in the receivers room steps up. That player may be Rashard Higgins. Higgins had only totaled 53 yards and two touchdowns for the entire season before the contest against the Bengals. However, he put on a show on Sunday.

Higgins finished the game with 6 receptions for 110 yards. and was a crucial part of Baker Mayfield‘s dominant performance. He led the team in both receptions and receiving yards and tied with Jarvis Landry for most targets in the game with 6 targets.

The question is raised on if the game was just a fluke due to the Bengal’s 25th ranked pass defense, or if the Mayfield and Higgins duo is the real deal. It seems like after a performance like the one he put on, it would be almost impossible for head coach Kevin Stefanski to not give Higgins the second spot on the wide receiver depth chart.

Along with this, with the injury to Nick Chubb earlier in the season against the Dallas Cowboys, success in the passing game is important now more than ever for the Browns. Looking forward to the next week of the schedule, the Browns will face off next against the Las Vegas Raiders that give up even more passing yards per game than the Bengals.

Higgins is one of only two wide receivers that have been on the Browns roster for the entirety of Mayfield’s three-year NFL career. Because of this, he has formed a connection with Higgins that often goes overlooked when looking at the roster, however, it often shows on the field. Higgins is seemingly one of the few receivers that Mayfield has 100 percent trust in, and this goes back to Mayfield’s first season with the Browns.

In the 2018 season, Higgins had 39 catches for 572 yards that mainly came from Baker Mayfield passes. Higgins also totaled four touchdowns in this season which all were thrown by Mayfield.

With the Browns not scheduled to play a team that ranks above 22nd in the league in passing yards allowed for the next two weeks, it will give Mayfield some time to get more comfortable and continue the hot streak that he began against the Bengals.

For Higgins, the next two weeks will be a test to see if he is the player that deserves to be in the wide receiver two role for the remainder of the season. Along with this, it will be seen if he can continue to be Mayfield’s main target and reaping the benefits of a more passing oriented offense.

Rashard Higgins has the potential to be a breakout player for the Browns and step up or even exceed the role that he will be given.