Sudden injury just turned the Rams' tight end competition upside down

If you want to anticipate where the Los Angeles Rams may choose to flex their offensive muscles for the 2025 NFL season, a smart NFL analyst would recommend looking to the team's tight end position for a significant uptick this season. While the Rams offense has been both creative and innovative, recent trends showing the positive impacts of the tight end position can no longer be ignored.

It's a recent trend in the NFL, one that the Rams' front office had tried to get ahead of as early as the 2023 NFL Draft. The team finally landed their franchise tight end in rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson. But there is a small hitch to the euphoria and excitement of adding a talented player to the 2025 Rams offense.

He was pulled from practice at the Rams training camp, and there is no estimate for how long he will be out.

Like other injuries, this one could not have happened at a worst time.

Ferguson needs joint scrimmages to earn right for snaps and targets

LA's offense runs on the merit system. That is, when a rookie arrives, they must earn the right to compete with and against the 1s. To do so, the player must demonstrate a command of the playbook, prove competency in all tasks required of the position, and finally, prove capable of succeeding against competition.

The best way for any rookie to accomplish the final item on the checklist is to show up in a big way against another NFL team's starters. And the Rams offer limited opportunities to do so. In 2025, the team has scheduled only two joint scrimmages. The first joint scrimmage is scheduled to take place against the Dallas Cowboys on August 5, 2025.

The second and final joint scrimmage is scheduled to take place against the Los Angeles Chargers the following week.

Terrance Ferguson will not leapfrog established veterans like Tyler Higbee or Colby Parkinson by sitting out those joint scrimmage. To earn the right to step onto the football field in 2025, let alone get passes thrown his way, he needs to show up and shine in the spotlight.

Related: Camp buzz is building fast around this Rams rookie for all the right reasons

Until Ferguson puts up a significant performance, the depth chart will likely look like this:

• TE1: Tyler Higbee | Terrance Ferguson | Mark Redman
• TE2 (optional): Colby Parkinson | Davis Allen | Anthony Torres

As presented above, the TE2 role is intended for a second tight end in 12-personnel packages. If combined into one tight end depth chart, Ferguson slides beneath Parkinson, and may slide beneath Davis Allen as well. While still early, that is a bit alarming considering the team invested their top pick of the draft to add him.

If Fergurson were able to compete and put up a performance against the Cowboys and Chargers, he would almost certainly be promoted to the second tight end slot. He might even be used to give veteran tight end Tyler Higbee significant rest periods to keep him fresh all season long.

A sudden injury to rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson just turned the Rams' tight end competition upside down. And now, Rams fans must wait patiently to see how the dust settles.

As always, thanks for reading.

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