And the Raiders’ top player in 2008 was …

By Anthony Carroll  |   Thursday, January 01, 2009  |  Comments( 22 )

Oakland Raiders
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OK, so this one may be a stretch.

But if this was September, not January, it’d be much more than stretch. I’d be run out of town for saying this …

The Oakland Raiders’ 2008 player of the year is Johnnie Lee Higgins.

The once-fumble-happy, absent-minded 25-year-old wideout amassed all of 366 yards receiving, but his post-TD antics and return game thrills give Higgins the prize.

(On a side note, if I really had to hand out this award, I’d likely give it to either middle linebacker Kirk Morrison, who finished fifth in the NFL with 135 tackles, or tight end Zach Miller, who led the team with 56 receptions for 778 yards. But I don’t. And neither is as fascinating as Higgins. So let’s move on.)

After a rookie year in which Higgins had just two more catches (six) than fumbles (four), the rebound just one season later was quite drastic. The sophomore pass catcher capped off the 2008 season with 22 grabs (best among all WRs on the team) for 366 yards (also No. 1) and four receiving touchdowns (most on the team).

If those numbers seem extremely low, it’s probably because they are. But keep in mind that Oakland’s receiving corps did essentially nothing all year until Higgins started getting the ball.

Higgins outperformed every other receiver on the Raiders’ roster, despite starting just three games and not getting any type of substantial playing time until the final four weeks of the season. In those four weeks, Higgins caught 14 balls for 196 yards and three TDs. To put those numbers into perspective, Ronald Curry, who started 10 games, had just five more catches all year for 15 fewer yards and one fewer TD.

Higgins, though, didn’t wait until the end of the season to turn it on in the return game.

The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder returned 36 kickoffs throughout the year for 842 yards (23.4 yards per runback) and fielded 44 punts with a 13-yard return average and three TDs.

Higgins’ 570 punt return yards positioned him first in the NFL in the category during the regular season. He also capped of the ‘08 season with the longest punt return of the year (93 yards) and led the league in returns of over 20 and 40 yards. And he had just one return fumble all season long; that came in Week 10 against the Carolina Panthers.

Plus, he’s entertaining.

Oddly enough, I think that dance single-handedly won him this (nonexistent) award.

Thanks for the seasonlong show, JLH.
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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