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Film Study: NFL Draft profile of Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins

April 1, 2016

There’s little doubt that Rashard Higgins is the greatest wide receiver to have ever played for the Colorado State Rams. The records speak for themselves; 239 career receiving yards and 31 touchdowns both CSU records. He became the Rams all-time leading receiver in yards, too, in his last game while facing off in the Bowl against Nevada. Higgins had to hit the century mark and he reached 129. He led the FBS in receiving yards and touchdowns in 2014, ahead of Amari Cooper and other current NFL wideouts, on the way to consensus All-American honors as only a sophomore.

It’s obvious to Ram Nation Higgins is an all-time great. That’s not what we’ll be talking about today. Instead, we’ll be discussing what the NFL might think of “Hollywood” and his projection as a professional football player.

After closely studying six games of his, watching him throughout his career, interviewing and seeing Higgins’ Pro Day, this is my scouting report.

First off let’s look at Higgins’ strengths, followed by his weaknesses and then wrap it all up in the end.

Strengths:

He’s a true route technician and this is the one consensus you’ll find on him, almost everywhere. He can run a full route tree and is stellar at what he does. He’s always adjusting his routes, giving cornerbacks stutter steps and shakes to make them stop and start. It’s really obvious when you study him that he’s a smart wide receiver who understands how to set up defensive backs to get open.
Higgins really sets CBs up to fail with his savvy route running ability. It’s easy to see he’s a smart player who understands the scheme and concepts he’s operating in. He and Joe Hansley stacked on the same side would simply embarrass defenders; with with one of the two often getting wide open.
He’s sensational at finding open holes in coverage. Tremendously efficient underneath route runner; it’s not even fair in off-coverage as he’s almost always open.
At his Pro Day, Higgins said, “I take pride in my routes man, and you know where I’m not fast at, my route running ability picks up.” After studying his tape I fully agree. Though Higgins hasn’t run the fastest 40 times, he consistently is able to beat the opposing corner thanks to his ability to buy space. This is shown by his relatively high average yards per reception, (especially in 2014 with Garrett Grayson, 18.23 YPC) despite a lack of elite speed. He’s always gaining extra yards thanks to this ability to shake guys and buy space.
Higgins is an elite over the shoulder catcher (especially when Grayson was throwing to him), also fantastic on back shoulder fades and adjusting with the ball in the air. He’s made some really spectacular catches throughout his career, and his agility and ability to adjust in a split-second is a big reason why.
He shows consistent hands and the ability to make tough, contested catches on a regular basis. This is a quality that national media analysts are greatly underrating.
Despite lack of strength, he does a good job of escaping press coverage with good first step and top-level quickness. Higgins has a great sense of timing, and rarely has his route thrown off when being pressed at the line.
His best athletic trait is that he’s a very agile mover, much quicker than he is fast, excellent in short movements, great at stopping and starting, terrific at buying extra space due to his agility. Shows this both when running routes and when running with ball in his hands. See his first touchdown in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl versus Nevada. http://draftbreakdown.com/video/rashard-higgins-vs-nevada-2015/
Higgins has good vision and instincts in running through traffic and navigating coverages to find open pockets or holes.
Higgins has tremendous hands, agility, and feel for the game. He has a natural ability to make acrobatic catches. Watch this touchdown against Air Force (7:25) http://draftbreakdown.com/video/rashard-higgins-vs-air-force-2014/
He is a willing and often effective blocker, though lack of strength limits his impact.
Maybe his most appealing trait is that he’s not a developmental talent, is already very NFL ready, and could have an immediate contribution. Should really excel against No. 2 and 3 CBs even at the pro level.

There is a lot to like about “Hollywood,” but he’s not perfect, especially for the type of physical talents that the NFL looks for, he has some limitations.

Weaknesses:

Higgins lacks strength in both upper and lower body.
He sometimes suffers on contested catches when a DB gets physical with him, you especially see this in the end zone. We’ve all seen “Hollywood” make spectacular catches in the end zone (especially away from his body), but he’s also suffered when being played tough and physically. You see this especially when he played against Ken Crawley from Colorado, one of the better CBs he faced this year. A bigger, stronger receiver wouldn’t have these same issues, and this will become more of a problem against bigger, more athletic and explosive NFL corners. http://draftbreakdown.com/video/rashard-higgins-vs-colorado-2015/
Lack of lower body strength is shown when in tight coverage, and he has way too many instances where he looses balance and starts to fall. If he had a stronger base, he’d be able to stay on his feet more often when dealing with incidental contact. His lower body explosiveness is very average, especially when jumping up for contested balls. Although his timing is excellent and allows him to excel in these situations, he does lack explosiveness, and its clear to see.
His lack of speed and NFL level explosiveness shows particularly when running with the ball in his hands. He is able to buy space with agility and shiftiness but is not an explosive homerun threat.
He does create separation due to route running savvy, but he’s not a natural separator. He will never be considered a deep threat in the NFL.
He does have the occasional drop, though he’s improved in this area in 2015, not a major concern.

Conclusions:

Obviously, there’s a lot more to like then there is not to, but that’s not necessarily how the NFL will see it. Higgins’ problem when it comes to the Draft will be his perceived potential, or true ability to improve. Because of his lack of strength or speed, he won’t be seen as a potential No. 1 NFL wideout; a position that WRs with much less actual skill and college production are given due to their physical upside and talent. This is what will hurt Higgins’ draft stock. Coaches will overlook him because his strengths are, for the most part, skills that can be coached up.

We all know that this is rarely the case. Higgins has a tremendous NFL skill set that should allow him to contribute early on, especially in an offense that values timing routes and receivers who are able to get open on underneath routes. He’s most likely going to be a No. 2 wide receiver, and could even be used in the slot, another area where he could definitely succeed and have success as a pro.

There are several WRs in the NFL with traits that are similar to Higgins. First off, he reminds me of a less athletic and physically gifted Amari Cooper, the Oakland Raiders top choice a year ago. He also reminds me of Marques Colston the former New Orleans Saints receiver who made a career out of being able to get open and make ball adjustments in the air despite a lack of speed (Colston is bigger, but the type of role he played while with New Orleans is similar to the type of NFL impact that Higgins could have). The comparison that’s most interesting is Antonio Brown, the Pittsburgh Steelers wide out who ran surprisingly slowly during the Draft process and got overlooked because of it. Brown is even smaller than Higgins, but he just looks more explosive than the Rams star does, especially with the ball in his hands.

Hollywood has a chance to be taken in the first three rounds of the draft, but most likely his lack of potential will make him drop to the fourth round. Higgins is loved by many analysts, especially the ones who have a heavy focus on advanced statistics, in large part due to his elite production at a young age. He has all the tools to be a steal in the third day of the Draft and to become one of the surprises in this rookie class.