Cleveland Browns wide receiver Rashard Higgins may have a more prominent role than initially thought due to injuries of other receivers.
This is not entirely about the chemistry that Baker Mayfield and Rashard Higgins once displayed, although many will keep hyping up his one season of production. This is about another coaching change, other receivers recovering from surgery, and an unknown return date.
With the hire of Kevin Stefanski comes a brand new offense. Which means that it is another year or change. While everyone will have adjustments, even the smallest amount of previous success will be crucial this time around. That is where 2018 will come into play. Baker and Higgins did have chemistry and they will need to rekindle some form of it in order to properly install the offense.
A combination of a potentially shortened offseason program and two receivers missing time due to rehab will cause problems. Normally Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry would be available, but both had surgery after the season ended. They may be able to observe and watch the offense during the recovery, but hands on work may be limited if they have any at all. It is entirely possible that both Beckham and Landry are a step behind when the season does start.
When the time comes to install the offense, Rashard Higgins may very well be the temporary number one receiver. This is not an ideal scenario, but Cleveland will have to make the best of it. In order for Cleveland to take that next step, Rashard Higgins will need to prove that his 2018 season was not the outlier that it seems to be.
