Do the Cleveland Browns know what they have in Rashard Higgins?

 An unknown rookie for a team with a weak WR corps in 2016

Rashard Higgins was drafted in Round 5 by the Browns in 2016, in what was a tactically stupid draft by analytics expert Sashi Brown. This draft was regarded as very weak in wide receivers, so what did Brown do? He drafted four of them:  young “generational talent” Corey Coleman, Ricardo Louis, Jordan Payton, and Higgins.

This violated rule number one in analytics; draft for talent, not for need. An additional layer of stupidity was added by committing four roster spots to untalented rookie draftees at the position. That forced them to cut Taylor Gabriel and Willie Snead, both of whom could have helped the team.

Higgins had had an impressive college career at Colorado State, compiling 3,648 yards and 31 TDs in three seasons. The buzz on him was that he was more polished than many prospects after having had three full seasons as an FBS college receiver, though he did not wow anyone at the combine with a 4.64 40-yard dash time. His sophomore campaign was his best year when he was catching passes from Garrett Grayson, who was an NFL prospect.

Higgins was unable to get playing time his rookie year, however, as Terrelle Pryor actually had an inexplicably good year, with over 1,000 receiving yards. However, no one else stood out. Higgins outperformed Payton, who had all of three receiving yards in his NFL career, while earning a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs, but that was about it.

Higgins’ stat line of 77 receiving yards was completely unimpressive. Yes, Higgins was a rookie.  But when your team is 1-15, you should be able to find an opportunity to play if you have any talent at all. It looked like Higgins would soon be shown the door. And actually, he was, for a time.