Will LA Rams Everett or Higbee be an NFL top-5 TE?

The case for Gerald Everett

Don’t rule out Gerald Everett in the LA Rams offensive plans. He suffered a knee injury in November 2019, but is healed and is playing for his big contract in 2021.  Of course, the LA Rams have already paid quite handsomely to keep Tyler Higbee on the payroll, so Everett may merely be playing his way out of the LA Rams price range for next season.

As well as Tyler Higbee played in 2019, Coach McVay remains very high on Gerald Everett’s potential this season. Per an interview quoted in theramswire.usatoday.com’s Cameron DeSilva, Sean McVay spoke to getting Everett involved in the offense as well:

"“Really, really excited about what Gerald Everett’s going to do,” McVay said Monday. “I think Tyler Higbee did a phenomenal job, but I think Gerald Everett’s a guy that I’ve got to do a better job of utilizing his skill set because he’s a difference-maker. But he’s got to get the opportunities and I think that starts with some of the things I know I can do a better job of.”-LA Rams head coach Sean McVay"

Wrong place right time

Until 2019, the Rams offense treated the tight end as a third option. But when Everett fell to injury, the Rams discovered just how effective the tight end can be in their offense. All the while, it was Everett who held the better talent.  Now that the LA Rams know what the tight end can do, does that change Everett’s role in the offense?  And should it, with everyone knowing that Everett is playing in the last year of his contract, and could easily play himself out of the LA Rams price range?

The Rams are counting on it. The 2020 NFL draft class for tight ends was not very talented nor deep, and Gerald Everett’s NFL Combine scores ranked near the top for any rookie tight end this year.  If it only takes a month for one of the Rams tight ends to accumulate 500 yards receiving, then it is quite possible for Gerald Everett to duplicate that production in 2020. Either Higbee or Everett could break out in 2020. But if Everett does so, he’ll likely land a significant contract to play for another team in 2021.