Watching the Browns dismantle Washington, I have interest in Rashard Higgins. He could pay off nicely in the late rounds.
Cleveland has Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry, of course, but it uses plenty of formations with three receivers, and Higgins can play. He caught a 24-yard touchdown on the first drive against Washington and finished with 5 catches for 98 yards.
The Browns have had problems with Antonio Callaway, who was demoted even before being suspended for the first four games for violating the substance-abusy policy. While Callaway is talented, I’m thinking that it will be Higgins who’s the team’s third receiver for the vast majority of games.
In that kind of a role, Higgins will see plenty of lesser coverages. Opponents will be more concerned with the two big-name receivers. And Baker Mayfield has shown a willingness to spread the ball around. When Mayfield tossed 27 touchdowns last year, nobody caught more than 4 of them.
Higgins was the team’s 3rd or 4th receiver in most games last year, but he was effective with his opportunities. He caught 39 of the 53 passes thrown his way, and for 572 yards. That works out to almost 11 yards per pass play.
In the league last year, 83 wide receivers saw at least 50 targets. Only three of those players averaged more yards per target than Higgins, and they’re all big-time talents: Tyler Lockett, Mike Evans and Tyreek Hill.
| WIDEOUTS AVERAGING 9 YARDS PER TARGET | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | No | Yards | TD | Yds/Tgt |
| Tyler Lockett, Sea. | 70 | 57 | 965 | 10 | 13.8 |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 138 | 86 | 1524 | 8 | 11.0 |
| Tyreek Hill, K.C. | 137 | 87 | 1479 | 12 | 10.8 |
| Rashard Higgins, Clev. | 53 | 39 | 572 | 4 | 10.8 |
| T.Y. Hilton, Ind. | 120 | 76 | 1270 | 6 | 10.6 |
| DeSean Jackson, T.B. | 74 | 41 | 774 | 4 | 10.5 |
| Josh Gordon, 2 tms | 71 | 41 | 737 | 4 | 10.4 |
| Cooper Kupp, LAR | 55 | 40 | 566 | 6 | 10.3 |
| Brandin Cooks, LAR | 117 | 80 | 1204 | 5 | 10.3 |
| Mike Williams, LAC | 66 | 43 | 664 | 10 | 10.1 |
| Tyrell Williams, LAC | 65 | 41 | 653 | 5 | 10.0 |
| Julio Jones, Atl. | 170 | 113 | 1677 | 8 | 9.9 |
| Chris Hogan, N.E. | 55 | 35 | 532 | 3 | 9.7 |
| DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 163 | 115 | 1572 | 11 | 9.6 |
| DJ Moore, Car. | 82 | 55 | 788 | 2 | 9.6 |
| Michael Thomas, N.O. | 147 | 125 | 1405 | 9 | 9.6 |
| Tyler Boyd, Cin. | 108 | 76 | 1028 | 7 | 9.5 |
| Sammy Watkins, K.C. | 55 | 40 | 519 | 3 | 9.4 |
| Amari Cooper, 2 tms | 107 | 75 | 1005 | 7 | 9.4 |
| Robert Woods, LAR | 130 | 86 | 1219 | 6 | 9.4 |
| Alshon Jeffery, Phil. | 92 | 65 | 843 | 6 | 9.2 |
| A.J. Green, Cin. | 77 | 46 | 694 | 6 | 9.0 |
| Adam Thielen, Min. | 153 | 113 | 1373 | 9 | 9.0 |
—Ian Allan