Rashard Higgins’ dreams have come true. Welcome to Cleveland, “Hollywood.”
Hate to say I told you so, but we did call this pick somewhat earlier in the month here at BSN. In our article on how Higgins was PFF’s 6th best WR in this class, I concluded the piece by saying:
“Not just his statistical output but also the fact that Higgins performed so well as only a sophomore seems to be earning him a lot of interest from the advanced stats community. This could lead to him being taken higher than expected by a team with a heavy statistical focus like the Cleveland Browns new regime.”
Higgins didn’t go higher than expected, quite the opposite, in fact, being taken at the tail end of the fifth round. But, he did go to the most statistically inclined front-office in the entire NFL in Cleveland. Given how much the analytics community appreciated Higgins, this makes a lot of sense for the Next Level Ram.
Higgins finds himself in a very interesting situation with the Browns. Their only receiving target worth mentioning is tight end Gary Barnidge, and their best receivers are Andrew Hawkins who’s limited to being a slot receiver and aging veteran Brian Hartline. Basically, they don’t have a single player at the position who’s better than an above average league replacement.
That’s a major reason why Cleveland’s newest brain trust decided to go all-out in the 2016 draft and select a whopping six players at the position (with Higgins being the last of the group to be selected). This is both good and bad for “Hollywood,” it means he’ll have lots of competition and is at the bottom of the totem pole, but it’s also like coming into an open tryout.
Everyone (including the veterans) will be playing in a new offensive scheme and with a new quarterback. The Browns selected Baylor standout Corey Coleman 15th overall and he’s the one guaranteed to see the field early on. The other three rookies are Jordan Peyton out of UCLA, Auburn receiver/returner Ricardo Louis, another Auburn product in Derrick Kindred, and unknown Ivy League product Seth DeValve out of Princeton. While they all might have been selected in front of Higgins due to their superior size, speed or perceived potential, simply, Rashard is the better and more NFL ready player of the group, and by a mile.
Payton from UCLA is a big receiver who surprised many by running better than expected during his athletic testing, and he projects as a possession receiver. Louis might be converted to defensive back as his hands are that unreliable, Kindred has been held back by a collarbone injury and is a major question mark. And DeValve is a WR/TE hybrid who could have likely gone undrafted; he had only 33 receptions and 337 yards in the Ivy league last season.
Higgins has better route running and hands than all four; it’s not even close. Higgins with Coleman should be RGIII’s security blankets, and also, both should be able to produce big plays off of short passes, a skill that should assist any quarterback playing for the Browns. Add Payton to the mix and that could be a nice young trio of receivers, with Coleman as the outside No. 1 guy, Payton as the possession No. 2 and Higgins in the slot where his size (for a slot wideout, he’s big), reliable hands and route running could make him an ideal option in the position.
Hue Jackson is a great offensive coach and should see quickly how Higgins was a steal and has all the tools to be an immediate contributor. While many fans look and say, “The Browns?” this could actually be the best situation possible for the Colorado State product. He’s starting fresh, starting new, and we all know how hard and professionally he works.
Soon, we’ll be seeing “Hollywood” Higgins catching passes in a brown an orange jersey; we can’t wait.
