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

Higgins elevates his game with Baker Mayfield at QB

Higgins got a new lease on life in 2018 working with the Todd Haley offense and Tyrod Taylor. However, as a backup in summer camp, it meant that most of his reps were with fellow backup first-round pick Baker Mayfield. Rookies Antonio Callaway and Damion Ratley were still learning the offense, and Ricardo Louis was injured, so Higgins got some playing time early on and he responded well. When Mayfield went in for Tyrod Taylor in week three against the Jets, Higgins and Mayfield immediately worked well together.

The Browns picked up speedster Breshad Perriman in October, and Callaway and Ratley started to get more playing time as they learned the offense. Higgins injured a knee and wound up on the inactive list for the duration of the Hue Jackson era.

By the time Gregg Williams took over as head coach, the Browns were looking rather decent at wide receiver with Landry, Callaway, and  Ratley as the three starters. Breshad Perriman was starting to look like a first-round draft pick (which he had been for the Ravens), and they even had Duke Johnson who could make cameo appearances in the slot receiver position.

Nevertheless, Williams liked what he saw from Higgins and started to use him immediately in game 9, giving him more snaps than anyone except Landry and Callaway. Higgins produced, catching passes and racking up yardage statistics. Perriman was also very productive under Williams, while Ratley faded.

So why did it work? This analysis believes that Mayfield can throw the ball into a small window, and Higgins can catch it. That is, he can throw the ball six inches above the turf, and Higgins can dive for it and catch it, and the defense back cannot. Those possession catches keep drives alive.  Higgins is not a speedster who will make a living catching the bomb. You will not see him on the highlight shows. Are you okay with that?

Perriman and Higgins in particular had career performances down the stretch catching balls from Mayfield and working for Gregg Williams. You could also say the same for Callaway, although he was a rookie one-hit-wonder. Like many Browns rookies of the recent past, he had more problems off the field that eventually became his undoing. It would be unfair to blame coaching for his failures in 2019, but he did crumble.

Exactly why the Browns took off is up for debate, but there is no debate that it happened. Somehow, the Cleveland Browns were a premier offense for the last eight games of 2018, and Higgins was a significant contributor to the team.

One wonders what the role of offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens was in all this. At the time, the theory was that it was mostly Freddie in his role as offensive coordinator. Higgins was rewarded with a $2 million contract for 2019, which was probably less than he was worth, but he took less to stay with Mayfield and the Browns.

This was not just a sentimental decision. The rapport between Mayfield and Higgins took an entire year to develop, and might include a few magical ingredients that are not reducible to stats. They call it chemistry, but some of it is voodoo and should not be dismissed.