Rams tweets etc … 6/22 – 6/30

From https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2024/6/22/24183689/rams-tight-end-depth-chart-colby-parkinson

former Seattle Seahawks tight end, Colby Parkinson.

In free agency, the Rams signed Parkinson to a three-year contract worth up to $22.5M. That seems like a lot for a player that had never exceeded 25 receptions in a season and recorded over 300 yards once in four years.

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Seattle has typically been a heavy tight-end team, utilizing 12 personnel at the 10th-highest rate last year and fourth-highest rate in 2022. With that said, especially last year, their pass rate out of 12 personnel has been relatively low. They threw out of 12 personnel just 50 percent of the time last year which ranked 18th in the NFL. That was much lower than their 2022 rate of 57.1 percent which was the seventh-highest. It’s worth noting that also Parkinson’s best year as a receiver.

The Seahawks simply haven’t been a team that consistently uses their tight ends in the passing game. … Last season, Seattle ranked 22nd in tight end targets and were 26th and 21st in 2021 and 2020 respectively. Again, in 2022 when the Seahawks were more tight end usage heavy in the passing game, ranking fifth in the NFL with 136 targets, Parkinson had his best season as the third tight end in the offense.

Parkinson has simply been under-used in Seattle. In 2022, among tight ends with at least 25 targets, he ranked 19th in total EPA despite just a 5.9 percent target share…. The 5.9 percent target share should raise significantly in the Rams offense. In a down year, Higbee had a 12 percent target share last season.

…going back to 2022, as a receiver Parkinson ranked ninth in yards after the catch per reception and his 1.56 yards per route run ranked 11th.

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McVay has already expressed his excitement in Parkinson and has said,

“You saw him climb the ladder, make a big catch today…I thought Shane (Waldron) did a great job utilizing his skillset in Seattle where you could really get a good evaluation…He’s definitely going to add real value. We’re looking forward to being able to getting the pads on and playing real football when we can kind of get a little bit better evaluation in a full speed setting. But the size, the instincts, just the overall character, we’re certainly excited about him.”

The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue has also mentioned that Parkinson’s size and speed ‘pops in practices.

from https://ramblinfan.com/posts/la-rams-running-back-kyren-williams-talks-2024-goals-with-rich-eisen-01j18x61ezza

Since hiring Coach Sean McVay, no other running back has averaged more yards per carry than Kyren Williams (5.0 ypc in 2023). While there is always room to improve, the real growth for his rushing production most likely lies in keeping him healthy and upright throughout the 2024 NFL season.