Johnnie Lee Higgins on the rise
Johnnie Lee Higgins is impressing during Oakland’s mini-camp
By Victor Cotto, S&B Report Staff Columnist
“C’mon Johnnie Lee…”
“That’s how you do it Higgins…”
Just some of the words of encouragement directed to the 99th overall selection in the 2007 draft during the Oakland Raiders first two days of mini-camp.
Johnnie Lee Higgins has been a pleasant surprise so far, and the Raiders could benefit greatly if he is able to turn those positives in practice into contributing plays on Sundays.
In his first season, Higgins barely made an impact. Besides the sense of uneasiness whenever he fielded punts, most of his glimpses on the field were of no significance and it appeared that he was not ready for pro football.
The Raiders are very thin at wide receiver. And they are looking at the slight of frame target to move ahead of the pack in a pool of targets that is questionable after Javon Walker, Drew Carter and Ronald Curry.
Per DeMarcus Davis, Higgins has been very active, snagging passes consistently in his vicinity and jumping ahead of the pack in these early rounds of evaluation on the wide receiver unit.
Overall, the receivers Oakland may trot out there may not be imposing at this point. They all have question marks looming over their heads and head coach Lane Kiffin is looking for someone – anyone – to make some noise heading into training camp.
Walker has been slow to get back on the field and there are concerns about his health, weight and transition to a new club. Kiffin stated, “Javon’s a lil’ heavy right now…”
“He’s been picking up the offense fine, but we have a long ways to go,” he continued.
All appears well with Curry and the Raiders feel that he will be ready to go once camp opens, but he is currently not participating in drills, working with trainers on adjacent fields with other teammates who are hindered by injuries.
Carter has been hanging around the facility all off-season and warming up to teammates since his arrival. But he isn’t expected to light up the league and Higgins can surely compete at this point for that third and fourth spot in the depth chart.
Higgins’ consistency will be key.
After a solid first day in camp, the former UTEP star nearly made a circus catch per Davis during a morning drill, but followed that up by dropping two passes that were sure completions.
That type of play is reminiscent of receivers in the recent past that Oakland felt had potential, but couldn’t max out their abilities for many reasons. Doug Gabriel was one who showed flashes of brilliance in the pre-season, only to diminish whenever the spotlight was on. Others never made it out of the practice squad or couldn’t rise the depth chart; Johnnie Morant, Carlos Francis, John Stone being some of the dubious names that fell by the wayside.
If not at receiver, maybe Higgins can regain the confidence of teammates and fans on special teams.
At this point, he is one of the leading candidates to take over punt return duties. But he will have to show more confidence fielding punts in order to claim that job, as it appeared that he was uneasy in 2007 when given his opportunities.
So far, all appears well with Higgins. Teammates are supportive, coaches are aware of his skills and are trying to put him in a position to succeed. And at this point, he looks to be headed in the right direction…
But can he keep it up?
