Many forget that Hodge was playing in front of Higgins until he was hurt.
There were games when Higgins was inactive because Hodge played special teams and Higgins did not.
Hodge was targeted 17 times in 9 games and started 0 games last year. When Beckham went down, Higgins was plugged in as the starter. There is a reason for that.
For the record, I like Hodge and want him back on the team, but certainly not at the expense of losing Higgins.