This Rams tight end is ready for a breakout, but it's not who you think

The Los Angeles Rams took the whole league by storm last season, turning one of the team's least productive positions in 2024, tight ends, into one of its most productive. It wasn't the emergence of just one star. Rather, the entire tight end room sprang to life.

How crazy was it? All four tight ends who donned the Yellow and Blue scored at least three touchdowns. That's the same number that, the previous year, the entire room could muster. That works out to an improvement in scoring of 466.7 percent.

Outstanding.

The group's ringleader was six-year veteran Colby Parkinson, who crossed the plane eight times last season. But Tyler Higbee, Davis Allen, and even rookie Terrance Ferguson managed to contribute. And in the 2026 draft, the offense doubled down by adding talented rookie tight end Max Klare. The challenge is anticipating who will lead the group this season.

2026 is the year of Big Rig Higs

Despite Parkinson's outstanding performance, in 2026 the Rams are more likely to be led by Higbee, the longtime franchise fixture. Yes, he'll be a year older, but Higbee also wasn't quite himself last season. He admitted to suffering from residual effects from his 2024 ACL injury. Now that sufficient time has passed, he is ready to lead the group once more.

And Higbee will be especially vital to the offense after the loss of offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, the new head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. The unit will need his leadership and knowledge of Sean McVay's system.

Big Rig Higs has seen his workload wane over the past two seasons. After logging 866 offensive snaps in 2023, he has seen only 424 snaps since. It's unlikely that he will see a pre-injury workload this season. Let's say he's good for about 500 offensive snaps.

That doesn't mean Higbee can't still be productive. Based on a full 17-game slate, without injuries last season he was on track for about 61 targets, 42.5 receptions, 478 receiving yards, and five touchdowns. And that was while managing the after-effects of his surgery.

With so many tight ends to target in 2026, that should be enough to retake the top spot in the group. Parkinson led the room with 43 catches and 408 yards last season. Quarterback Matthew Stafford could be throwing to five or even six tight ends, if you count undrafted free agent Dan Villari as a possible injury fill-in. No. 9 will spread the ball around once again.

It's worth noting that the team's commitment to plant rookies into an already crowded room has caused some fans to wonder whether the Rams will deal away a seasoned veteran like Parkinson. Well, a healthy rebound from Higbee would make that even more likely.

As always, thanks for reading

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