tyler higbee

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Tyler Higbee, Tight End, Western Kentucky

Height: 6’6″ – Weight: 249 lbs. – Arm Length: 33 1/4″ – Hand Size: 10 1/4″

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Lance Zierlein

STRENGTHS Former wide receiver with a smooth, wide­-open gait when he hits top gear. Has big hands. Had just one drop this season and showed ability to recover the catch when he juggled a throw. Becomes a body catcher who can protect the ball in traffic. Willing to work middle of the field and take hits. Quick and slippery off line of scrimmage and into routes. Very good acceleration out of his breaks and can be a tough cover for safeties. Has the speed and toughness to work all three levels of the field. Can own the Y­-seam with his vertical speed and hands. Immediately opens and looks for expedited throws when he’s over the top of inside linebackers. Has frame for more muscle mass. Extremely competitive after the catch with speed, elusiveness and decent power. Can carry body tacklers after the catch.

WEAKNESSES Still has work to do filling out his frame. Slow to adjust to blocking assignment during flow of play. Not powerful enough yet to handle NFL edge power as in­line blocker. Doesn’t run feet through block to sustain. Upright into his breaks. Needs route polish for underneath routes. Can get better at creating additional leverage through crisper routes. Suffered through a knee sprain that cost him four games before re-aggravating it in Conference USA Championship Game. Missed his bowl game and expected to miss Senior Bowl because of it.

DRAFT PROJECTION Round 4

NFL COMPARISON Jordan Cameron

BOTTOM LINE Knee injury basically took six games away from him this season which could cause him to fly under the radar a little bit. Higbee has exciting athleticism and speed in the open field with the ability to separate from safeties on intermediate routes and threaten the deep middle. Higbee has soft, reliable hands and plus run-­after­-catch ability to finish plays. While he needs to beef up his frame and blocking ability, there is no doubting his pass catching talent.

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Jamie Newberg

STRENGTHS: Outstanding size and a terrific frame. Has length and above average straight-line speed. Can move for a 250-pounder.

In terms of hands, Higbee gets the job done. He pretty much catches everything thrown his way and can make the tough grab in traffic. Can go high and get the ball as well as getting down low. Former wide receiver is a good route runner. A load to bring done and has shown the ability to break tackles after the reception and gain additional yardage.

Solid as a blocker; tough and physical at the point of attack and does his job. Doesn’t blow anybody off the ball but he will put his hat on a defender and stay in front of him.

WEAKNESSES: Good, solid, all-around player without being a standout in any one area. Could be a little more dominating in the run game. Limited production until his senior season, and the jump in the level of competition will be significant. One-year starter still learning nuances of position.

IN OUR VIEW: This is a nice looking tight end prospect who has worked hard to put himself in this position, especially after making the position change. Along the way, Higbee has added 60 pounds. He’s athletic and versatile and in the right offensive system Higbee could really be a nice weapon in the NFL because he’s a guy that can be good in the run game and evolve into a tight end that work the middle of the field in the passing game and become a real threat.

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PFF

What he does best:

• Freakish athlete. Runs better than any tight end in the class. Few linebackers can stay with him up the seam.

• Wide-receiver-type ability after the catch. Broke 10 tackles on only 38 catches in 2015.

• Already has a feel for where and when to sit down in zones. Made a living on spot-routes over the middle.

• Three of his five highest-graded games came against WKU’s only Power-5 opponents.

• Ran pro-style concepts with 65 percent of his snaps coming in-line.

Biggest concern:

• Limited experience at the position. Started off as a receiver at WKU before switching to tight end.

• Frame to grow into the position, but looks undersized at the moment. Listed at 234 pounds in college and weighed in at 249 at the NFL combine.

• Not a polished blocker by any means, although he is willing and graded out positively in that regard the last two seasons. Weight and strength concerns don’t help in this area.

• Only 803 snaps over the past two seasons due to injury—wasn’t even a starting tight end for WKU until his redshirt-senior season.

Pro style comparison:

Ladarius Green, Pittsburgh Steelers. The comparisons here run deep, all the way to Green and Higbee’s limited playing time up until this point in their careers. Both are extremely gifted athletes that possess natural receiving ability, with ideal builds that are/were in need of muscle coming out college.

Bottom line:

As a pure receiver, there may not be a better option in the class. Higbee has abilities that you can’t teach a 6-foo-6-inch player. His inexperience, low level of competition, and size may make it hard for teams to justify drafting him early on, but his traits right now have future-starter written all over them.

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Highlights:

link to Rams site vid: http://www.therams.com/videos/videos/Tyler_Higbee_Highlights_4th_Round_110th_Pick/7cce4b52-499e-4b5b-bf40-b009d95514b1

Max: Waldman has Higbee as his #2 TE…

2. Tyler Higbee, Western Kentucky (6-6, 249)

Austin Hooper beats Hunter Henry as an athlete and a budding craftsman at his position. Higbee isn’t as advanced at the position as Hooper, but he does things that Henry will never be able to match.

The RSP’s No.2 tight end arrived at Western Kentucky as a 190-pound wide receiver. The fact that he’s wearing 59 additional pounds of muscle like he’s always had it is a testament to his work ethic and execution of a specific long-term game plan to transform himself into an entirely new kind of player. It’s an experience that will serve him well as a professional. Higbee still runs with the control and fluid grace of a wide receiver. He has the burst to win up the seam and when he makes the smooth transition from receiver to runner, he has the hip flexibility to maintain a high rate of speed while dipping or side-stepping opponents gunning for him. He can even make sharper cuts to avoid downhill penetration while he’s traveling along an east-west path, which is difficult to do at 200 pounds, much less Higbee’s current weight. These athletic gifts make Higbee capable of earning chunks of yards when he’s targeted on routes that lead him down field. He’s best targeted when he can catch the ball in stride. These targets allow Higbee to use his agility and momentum-derived power. His agility lacks the suddenness of a gamebreaker that can catch the ball from a static position, turn upfield to face a defender, and make that first man miss. But Higbee has the power to complement his finesse. When he catches the ball in stride, he’ll make opponents miss, use the stiff-arm, and lower the pads to split multiple defenders, dragging them for extra yardage or bouncing off contact arriving from a variety of angles.

Higbee has a quick first step off the line of scrimmage into his stems and uses sound footwork release techniques paired with a chop or swim to beat the jam. Higbee is also good at dipping the shoulder to avoid the jam. He can get even better at this skill because there are routes where he raises his pads too early and gets bumped off course. Higbee is also developing a rip move to combat press coverage at the line. His timing isn’t always accurate. As he learns to maintain a low pad level throughout his initial release, the rip will become an effective complementary move. At the top of his stems, Higbee runs a clean speed break and his smooth route game is effective at baiting opposing defenders with double moves that require clean movements such as the corner-post.

Because he’s good at catching targets over his head and over his shoulder, he’d fit well in a precision offense where he can set up quick turns against tight coverage and shield defenders from the ball on the move. At the same time, he’s capable of the tough catch that requires securing the ball during a collision.

Higbee’s height, grace, and grit don’t require a lot of room for a quarterback to consider him “open.” His skill to win targets in tight coverage and near the sideline gives him enough tools to develop into a mismatch against NFL linebackers on intermediate routes, and the potential to earn larger chunks of yards after the catch against safeties.

He’s not the game-breaking athlete that fans will think of as a primary threat in an offense, but pair Higbee with a precision passer and he can become that high-volume, third option who can wreak havoc in the open zones between the linebackers and safeties. Higbee has potential to unlock more yards after the catch production on routes breaking back to the quarterback if he addresses his breaks.

As a ballcarrier, Higbee has displayed the hip bend needed to make the hard breaks that create separation on hooks, curls, comebacks, and in-cuts. When he’s running these routes, his first step into his break is too straight-legged, which inhibits his ability to bend his hips at the necessary angle to execute a sudden stop. Once he learns to plant that leg with a more flexible bend, he’ll develop sharper breaks and earn more space between himself and the defense as he transitions from receiver to runner.

Blocking is the weakest link of Higbee’s game, but there are enough things he does well that he can deliver short term in offenses that feature two tight ends with one set as a wing back. He also does good enough work as a stalk blocker in space that he can help a ground game from the slot or split wide and shift where the offense needs him. Higbee has a good sense of angles and he routinely earns good position on his opponents in the open field. His hand placement is sound and he’s good at moving his feet after establishing contact.

It’s his work at the line of scrimmage that requires most of Higbee’s long-term attention. There were games from 2015 where he was too slow to reach all the progressions of his assignments. Because he’s so much smoother as a route runner and ballcarrier, it’s likely he was overthinking his tasks as an in-line blocker. He seemed a half-step slow at recognizing what to do. The root issue is Higbee developing confidence in the blocking techniques that draw upon strength and balance. That confidence may come with more work to perfect the details of attacking a defender with a sound base that promotes good leverage, but 249 pounds at 6’6” is still light for a tight end. He’s not ready for solo assignments against NFL-sized, 3-4 outside linebackers or 4-3 defensive ends. It might mean he’ll need to add another 10-15 pounds of muscle to his core for that confidence to be more than a misplaced feeling.

One of the problems that is curable without additional work in the weight room is that he’s not often enough the aggressor at the collision point. He’ll “catch” the contact from the defender rather than dictate the action with a punch. When this happens, he gets pushed backwards too easily at the collision point of a block. When he takes the initiative, he overextends his base and gets easily ripped aside in short order. Higbee needs to develop a better anchor in pass pro so he can punch, lock on, and maintain a good base for leverage. Higbee has some of the vital tools he’ll need to develop into a better in-line blocker. When he can get his hands into position, he’ll deliver a punch to the chest of his opponent and he’ll roll his hips through the strike, which generates maximum power and opportunities to turn the opponent in the direction of his choice at the line or knock the defender to the ground in the open field. He also displays proficiency at hooking defenders on the edge. When he can fire off the line with a flatter back, he’ll have an easier time delivering an accurate punch. Then the rest of the techniques to control a defender can work in smoother succession. He has moments where he has done this to perfection and he appears as quick in these tasks as he does running routes and weaving through defenders with the ball in his hands.

One area of run blocking where he has improved his grasp of the mental side of the game is his execution of double teams. He has figured out the timing for peeling off his initial double team and earning position on the downfield opponent. When he’s not overthinking this part of the game, he performs with intensity. He has a knack for the cut block and at the line of scrimmage; he has learned to set up the cut block with footwork that baits his opponent into thinking that Higbee is releasing in a different direction. Higbee will perfect his cut blocks if he can make his aiming point high enough that his opponents have no chance of leaping over top or pushing the tight end close enough to the ground to maintain their footing.

Higbee and Hunter Henry are virtually tied at the No.2 spot on my boards. If you factor out the bonus adjustments I’ve given both players for skills I believe they’ll develop, Henry would have the slight edge. But Higbee earns this No.2 spot on my board because his skill after the catch and work at the catch point offers more upside than Henry.

From Ourlads

Fifteen starts over career. From Clearwater, FL. Brandon Doughty’s check down and safety receiver. He let FBS TEs in yards and was tied for the most TDs with six when he injured his left knee versus North Texas. The big tight end played in nine games and averaged 14.8 yards on his 38 catches for the year. Moved from wide receiver to tight end in 2013. Big soft hands and long arms. Gets up the field North and South as soon as he makes the catch. Adjusts well to off-target passes. Catches the ball away from his body. A smooth route runner. Needs more core strength and bulk to be inline NFL blocking tight end. At Western he was used as move blocker who could get position and seal the edge in the running game. Was asked to position and wall off as a blocker. Collected 11 receptions versus Marshall. Uses his long frame to his advantage when attacking the ball at the high point. Good timing. If healthy, he will provide depth to a team and will be drafted higher. 2015 stats: 38-563, 14.8 ypr, 8TD. Medical exclusion at Combine. sixth/seventh round. (A 33 1/4, H-10, BO-DNP, VJ-DNP)

He is a major partier. That was his big problem,

Partyman.

Higbee’s Size, Speed Make a Promising Prospect

Myles Simmons

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Higbees-Size-Speed-Make-a-Promising-Prospect/cf638d2d-cf11-4742-abaa-7f540a74d2ca

It’s no secret the Rams’ passing game struggled in 2015. To address that, the club not only drafted quarterback Jared Goff at No. 1 overall, but also spent four of their next five picks on offensive skill players.

Tight end Tyler Higbee was the first off the board. The Rams ended up drafting two tight ends — the other being sixth-round pick Temarrick Hemingway — in part because it was a position of need.

“When we looked at the board, both Hemingway and Higbee were guys who we had in the column who we really liked,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “We needed to address the tight end position, particularly because we only had three on the roster.”

Given that the blockbuster trade bringing the Rams the No. 1 pick was consummated two weeks before draft day, Los Angeles had more time to extensively study players likely to be drafted in later rounds. Higbee ended up being one of those players still around when the Rams got back on the clock at No. 110.

General manager Les Snead said he noticed HIgbee while doing some film study on his teammate, quarterback Brandon Doughty, who ended up as a seventh-round pick.

“When you went and watched the QB, you kept seeing this big, large, tight end, who was probably one of his top targets,” Snead said. “He made catches.”

Higbee has been recording receptions for years, going all the way back to when he was seven. That’s when he started playing football as a wide receiver — a position he maintained until his redshirt sophomore year in college when he flipped to TE. His extensive experience as a receiver helped him become more of an asset inside because he already knew the routes.

“As far as the route tree, I’ve been running those routes since I was a little kid,” Higbee said. “But at the same time, it was different coming in and learning fronts and defenses rather than just, ‘run to’ or ‘run away’ or just the routes. Now as a tight end, I’ve got to know everything — almost as much as the quarterback.”

With Higbee’s considerable size and speed — he checked in at the Combine at 6-foot-6 and 249 pounds — he projects as a significant matchup issue for defenses.

“I can create mismatches with linebackers and safeties,” Higbee said. “Some of the smaller guys — use my physicality. Some of the bigger guys, I can use my speed with. Create those mismatches, and get open, and hopefully score some touchdowns for the Rams.”

Fisher has said Higbee looked dominant at times at the collegiate level as a receiving tight end. But given that the Rams’ offense is likely to be based around running back Todd Gurley’s considerable rushing skills, it’s important for the club’s TEs to be strong blockers.

“He can drop his hips in the run game and he can be a factor,” Fisher said. “And that’s what we’re looking for — some who can give us an edge presence in our run game.”

Higbee’s first exposure to the Rams’ playbook came at rookie orientation over the weekend. While it does include plenty to learn, the tight end said he felt like he was picking the offense up well with the guidance of his position coach, John Lilly.

“You’ve got to take pride in it, and learn it, and go from there,” Higbee said. “The big thing is, you can do all those things with the coaches, and and your teammates, and on the field, and in your meetings, but you also have to take time outside of those meetings with the coaches and the team and take it upon yourself and learn it.”

While there is a lot of time before the 2016 season starts in September, Fisher said he feels Higbee will play “sooner than people think” in part because of his competitive nature.

“I think I’m going to bring some things to the table that others can’t,” Higbee said. “I think it was right of them to take a chance on me and I’m going to make them proud and work for it. I think they realized I’m a hard worker, and I’m going to put the blinders on and go to work.”