Cleveland Browns: Where on earth is Rashard Higgins?

Rashard Higgins was one of Baker Mayfield’s favorite targets last year, but this year the sixth-year receiver is nowhere to be found for the Cleveland Browns.

Heading into the 2021 season, many people envisioned Cleveland Browns wide receiver Rashard Higgins having an even bigger role on the team than he did in 2020. Well, after 14 weeks, Higgins is resembling Waldo or Carmen San Diego.

Last year the red carpet was rolling out and things appeared to be going well for Higgins and the Browns. This year, it’s almost as if he is in head coach Kevin Stefanski’s dog house, but there are no reports confirming that notion.

Through 13 games this year, Higgins has had a minimal role in this offense that has had its fair share of issues across the board. The sixth-year vet has been active in 12 games this season and has compiled 15 receptions on 31 targets for 185 yards and one single touchdown. 11 of his 15 receptions have gone for first downs, yet Higgins never appears to be in the game plan for the sputtering Browns offense.

In Week 12, the first matchup with the Ravens in a three-week span, Higgins was looking like he was going to be active as Anthony Schwartz was out with a concussion and Donovan Peoples-Jones was banged up with a groin injury, but that wasn’t the case. Higgins was a healthy scratch with JoJo Natson and Ja’Marcus Bradley being made active.

Higgins was expected to get a bigger role in the offense once the Browns moved on from Odell Beckham Jr., although some argued that he would get more targets with Beckham on the field as he would garner so much attention, thus making Higgins open more. Nonetheless, it hasn’t worked out for Higgins in 2021, which could indicate that he will be looking for a new home in 2022.

So, was 2020 the ceiling for Higgins? It appears that way. Last year Higgins was one of the go-to targets of Baker Mayfield, catching 37 passes on 52 targets for 599 yards and four touchdowns. The only other time he put up similar numbers was in 2018, Mayfield’s rookie campaign, when he caught 39 of 53 targets for 572 yards and four touchdowns.

Higgins is a fan-favorite in Cleveland, but sadly, being a fan-favorite doesn’t equate to results on the field all the time. Being beloved by the fans isn’t uncommon for players, but what it does do is overvalue said players.

That is certainly the case for Higgins and many others on this roster.