8 enticing adventures emerging after 1 week of LA Rams 2024 Training Camp

IV: Rams TE competition may find not 1, but 2, starters

When the LA Rams lost starting TE Tyler Higbee to an ACL injury in the Wild Card Round of the 2024 NFL Playoffs, we all realized that the injury would carry over and impact Higbee's availability in the 2024 NFL season. Coupling that with the expected loss of TE Brycen Hopkins to an expired contract, and the tight end position became a concern for 2024 before the season ever arrived.

But it is always darkest before the dawn.

Revisiting his rookie performance, it's impossible to be anything but extremely impressed by rookie TE Davis Allen. Compiling preseason, the regular season, and the post-season, Allen caught 21 of 22 passes for 182 yards and one touchdown. While that may not jump out at you, keep in mind that comes from just 22 targets.

The Rams 6-foot-6 251-pound rookie tight end only missed one pass thrown his was for the entire season.

But the LA Rams front office was not content to lay the burden of the entire 2024 NFL season on a second-year tight end. So the team added an even bigger target in free agent tight end Colby Parkinson. Parkinson stands 6-foot-7 and tips the scales at 265 pounds. He is a renowned blocker, but also has the ability to make tough catches downfield and in traffic.

So which of the two tight ends will win the competition in training camp? So far it's a dead heat:

The great news about that is that if the team truly emerges from training camp with a TE-1A and TE-1B to start Week 1, they will boast incredible flexibility and versatility to force opposing defenses into undesirable mismatches that will favor the Rams offense. That also affords this team options for a 12-personnel package that not only expands the running game, but could lead to tremendous passing options as well.