There have been plenty of memorable moments of the Tyler Higbee era with the Los Angeles Rams, but those might be in danger with the arrival of rookie Terrance Ferguson. Higbee isn’t going anywhere, but the arrival could signal the sun starting to set for the tight end.
Of course, the tight end won’t go quietly. Some may even argue that Higbee and Ferguson will go together like peanut butter and jelly as co-starters.
However, one statistic indicates that Ferguson was added to succeed where Higbee struggled, which signals a year of transition.
According to Rams media, Ferguson dominated in the FBS in one area that the entire Rams tight end room struggled, including the veteran tight end.
“Ferguson adds speed and explosion to the unit, averaging 9.5 yards after catch per reception last season, which ranked first among FBS tight ends with at least 30 targets according to Pro Football Focus,” he wrote. That’s something the Rams’ group struggled with in 2024, as Higbee, Parkinson, and Allen all netted zero or fewer yards after catch over expected, according to Next Gen Stats (measured using tracking data).”
In other words, the tight ends struggled to deliver outside of scripted production and struggled to make defenders miss.
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Ferguson was able to do it early and often in college, giving hope that he can do so for the Rams. As such, Ferguson has a clear case to be the successor for Higbee and to lead the tight end room in the near future.
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The tea leaves indicate that Higbee will be on the way down the depth chart eventually, but the question is when. With training camp getting underway, there’s reason to believe a change could happen in the foreseeable future. Of course, it depends on how fast Ferguson can shred his rookie skin.
As the team’s first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams have added reason to give Ferguson the nod sooner rather than later. If Ferguson can get comfortable in the offense well enough to play without thinking, that might be all it takes for Sean McVay to give the nod.
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That said, Higbee still has some say in when the transition happens. If the 32-year-old tight end can have a season that starts on par with his 2022 or 2019 production, it might be hard for McVay to hand the keys to Ferguson wholeheartedly. At this point, the situation reads like a bridge quarterback-rookie situation, where the hot hand will start, but the rookie is likely to win in the end.
Will the transition take place before the first regular season game, or could it be a wait? If there is a wait, it could raise concerns about the validity of the decision to draft the tight end as high as he was.