Puka Nacua and 7 other Rams to face the 49ers for 1st time in 2024 on TNF

(8) - TE Tyler Higbee

While the availability of starting tight end Tyler Higbee remains optimistic speculation, all signs are trending the right way. From the perspective of the Rams roster, Week 15 is an ideal opportunity to push Higbee into servivce. This is a game against the NFC West Division rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, so it's all hands on deck. And the Rams want this win, badly.

Still, we cannot ignore the ideal logistics that playing in Week 15 affords both the team and the player. Since this is a game that falls on Thursday Night Football, the coaches will have plenty of time to absorb and analyze Higbee's performance to determine if he is ready to take on a larger role in the offense. After all, he has not played for nearly a full year, so there is no reason to expect him to drop into the deep end of the swimming pool and just starting swimming gracefully.

Even little things like working on the chemistry between Higbee and QB Matthew Stafford could take time. So the Rams will want to prescribe a finite set of plays, and ensure that Higbee suffers no pain, loss of function, or regresses throughout the game.

Even as Higbee did not face the 49ers in Week 3, you have to go back to Week 4 on October 3, 2022, to find a game in which Tyler Higbee played a major role on offense against the 49ers. In that road game, the Rams venerable tight end hauled in 10 of 14 targets for 73 yards. Since that game, he has:

• Caught 2 of 6 passes for 15 yards (Oct. 30, 2022)
• Caught 3 of 7 passes for 12 yards (Sep. 17, 2023)

So I wouldn't view Higbee's return as the cavalry riding into the battle. But he has not faced the 49ers defense in well over a year. So his presence in the offense, no matter how larger or small that role may be, is something the 49ers secondary cannot effectively prepare to face.

Scouting report: Higbee could haul in from three to five passes in Week 15 for 30-40 yards and a touchdown. Of course, it will depend on how many offensive snaps and targets he gets, but I think the Rams coaches will want to test him in this one.

Editor's Note:

Per the LA Rams final injury report, TE Tyler Higbee will not play in Week 15.