Ramblin’ Fans Position Breakdown: Tight End

In our last position breakdown we broke down the Rams wide receivers who look to be one of the better groups this season. With the NFL becoming a passing oriented league, there is one position that has become a quarterback’s best friend, and that position is the tight end. From Gronkowski on the Patriots to Graham from the Saints the NFL is full of tight ends that are physical monsters and the Rams finally got one of their own this year in Free Agency when they signed Jared Cook. Here is the breakdown of the Rams tight ends.

The tight end has become more than just a guy that blocks on the offensive line, they have become a serious offensive threat that creates mismatch upon mismatch in coverage. The Rams finally have two tight ends that can create those mismatches in Lance Kendricks and Jared Cook. Kendricks showed a lot of promise in 2011 which was his rookie season, but with Bradford having injury problems, Kendricks only picked up 342 yards receiving. Last season however, Kendricks did work his way into the offense more picking up 519 yards receiving and a respectable 12.4 yards per catch which ranked 8th among tight ends with 20 receptions or more. Kendricks’ best game by far came against Tampa Bay last season where he had 119 yards receiving and really put the game away with a touchdown on the first play in the second half. If Kendricks builds off of last season, he could have a career year.  With the signing of Cook, Kendricks might not get as many looks in the passing game, and will probably be used more as the blocking tight end, but if the team were to use some two tight end sets, Cook could open things up for Kendricks. Sam Bradford used to not have enough offensive weapons, now it looks like he could have an overflow, which isnt necessarily a bad thing.

One of the Rams big signings this offseason was the signing of tight end Jared Cook.  Cook Only had 523 yards receiving, but many feel like Cook was misused in Tennessee, and really what can you really do with a learning Jake Locker at quarterback. The previous year Cook had 759 yards receiving with Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback. Cook has now reunited with the same coach who drafted him, Jeff Fisher. Cook has reportedly been very impressive so far in camp and has been one of Bradford’s favorite targets. Don’t be surprised if Cook becomes Bradford’s new security blanket. Cook will also be a nice big target for Bradford in the red zone. Cook has a lot of size and can be used anywhere on the field, Fisher has just reportedly said that the team could use Cook in the back field, “We’re excited about creating mismathces, and offensive success these days is about creating mismatches. He’s going to play all over the place. We’ve even got him in the backfield, so we’ve got some good things for him.” Cook has had some problems dropping passes, but if he fixes that and if he plays up to his physical ability this season, he could very well have a breakout season and have over 1,000 yards receiving.

Cook and Kendricks could very well become the best tight end duo in the NFL this season, especially with the Patriots tight end problems. The Rams have the offensive weapons to take the next step along with the quarterback, they just need to put all the pieces together and the Rams could have an offensive unit that defenses dread playing on Sunday’s. The offense has been a glaring weak point for the Rams for quite some time, by the looks of it, offense could become a strength.