Rams TEs

PFF LA Rams@PFF_Rams
Tyler Higbee led all players in receiving yards during the last 5 weeks of 2019

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ME: Just some details. Higbee has shown that he is a top receiver. He also has the highest catch percentage of any Ram with more than 40 targets, at 77.5%. Kupp is 2nd at 70.1%. Among league TEs with 40 or more targets TH’s catch percentage ranks 2nd only to Kittle. Among all league WRs and TEs combined with 40 or more targets he ranks 3rd (behind Kittle and Michael Thomas).

For a bit there last week there was a rumor that Everett might be traded. It looks like they’re keeping him. The trade talk might not have been anything real.

Everett is a bit of mystery, not because he hasn’t come through, but because he keeps getting banged up…and that’s on top of being a developmental guy when they picked him. TEs are notoriously slow to develop, and getting banged up on top of it doesn’t help.

So who and what is he? Well the team has a far better idea than we do…we are mostly still just guessing at this point. He shows flashes but can’t stay on the field. For example at one point midseason last year he was becoming a primary target. Starting with the Tampa game and going through to the Pittsburgh game, he had 49 targets in 6 starts. That’s a bit inconsistent–in 2 of those games he had 20+ snaps, when in the other 4 he had 50+ snaps a game–but still, that shows the intention to use him. That was for 26 catches and 322 yards. 8 targets a game for 16 games would have been 128 targets, which would have ranked 3rd among TEs in 2019.

But then he banged his knee up.

Before the injury though, I don’t think they put him in that position if they don’t believe in him. (In fact in a recent interview McVay said he thinks GE is a “rising star.”)

Plus they need 3 viable TEs, though all three top TEs are very different animals (obviously, Higbee, Mundt, Everett). There are different offensive games built around which pair you put out there–HIgbee and Everett is one thing, Higbee and Mundt is another. That’s something a good offensive mind can play around with.

(Hopkins is a very developmental rookie and as was said, rookie TEs rarely do much.)

Everett is more of a move TE and not an inline blocker, though he can block in his role.

He needs to stay healthy and it’s true that so far he has not managed to do that.

I doubt they extend him. Hopkins could replace him in 2021. I doubt they extend him because they can only afford so many extensions. So I would say he looks to be good enough to use effectively in 2020 (if there’s a season), but he’s not a transcendent, must-keep kinda player. (Not many are.)

Higbee is clearly the #1 TE but they can do things with Higbee + Everett packages, or just with Everett out there as the only TE in what amounts to a 4 WR set (with GE being the 4th WR). A 6’3 240 TE in that situation gives you obvious mismatch advantages.

He’s also great after the catch. That’s always been true though other parts of his game had to develop. I think he has enough to be a factor in 2020.

Or…they could trade him. 😎