Much has been made of the Rams' turnover at wide receiver, letting Kenny Britt walk and being left with several uninspiring choices: holdover Tavon Austin, former Buffalo wideout Robert Woods. But there's a significant opportunity at tight end, too.
Lance Kendricks is gone, and he was busier than you might remember in the offense a year ago, seeing a career-high 87 targets. He caught 50 of them for 499 yards. Second-year tight end Tyler Higbee is poised to take over that main tight end role, and could be busy in Sean McVay's offense.
McVay was offensive coordinator for Washington last year, and no team's tight ends averaged more yards per game. McVay had an elite receiving talent in Jordan Reed and former top-10 pick in backup Vernon Davis, and former fourth-round pick Higbee isn't the same caliber player. But it's an offense that tends to funnel things into the hands of its tight ends, and Higbee is the favorite to start at the position. (Second-rounder Gerald Everett will probably need a year of seasoning.)
Note also that Higbee has more potential than his draft status might suggest. A former wide receiver who caught 8 TDs at Western Kentucky in 2015, he slipped in the draft due to an injury history and an arrest for assault. The Rams are short on receiving talent; they're going to need to make the most of what they have. That includes Higbee.
Yards per game by team tight ends last year are shown below. The Rams last year were near the bottom of the list; McVay's offense in Washington was at the top.
| TIGHT END TEAM TOTALS, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | YPG | No | Yards | TD |
| Washington | 81.6 | 114 | 1306 | 8 |
| Philadelphia | 81.1 | 129 | 1298 | 5 |
| Indianapolis | 80.4 | 109 | 1287 | 12 |
| New England | 78.9 | 82 | 1263 | 11 |
| Kansas City | 78.9 | 107 | 1262 | 5 |
| Carolina | 76.1 | 91 | 1217 | 4 |
| Seattle | 70.0 | 85 | 1120 | 8 |
| Houston | 68.4 | 115 | 1094 | 7 |
| San Diego | 65.7 | 91 | 1051 | 15 |
| Tennessee | 62.8 | 80 | 1004 | 9 |
| Baltimore | 58.1 | 110 | 929 | 5 |
| Minnesota | 56.8 | 94 | 908 | 7 |
| Pittsburgh | 52.5 | 75 | 840 | 6 |
| San Francisco | 52.4 | 59 | 839 | 7 |
| Tampa Bay | 51.5 | 78 | 824 | 11 |
| New Orleans | 50.8 | 70 | 812 | 4 |
| Atlanta | 49.3 | 58 | 788 | 10 |
| Dallas | 48.3 | 79 | 772 | 4 |
| Cleveland | 47.5 | 68 | 760 | 5 |
| Detroit | 47.3 | 67 | 756 | 1 |
| Cincinnati | 45.8 | 66 | 733 | 6 |
| Jacksonville | 45.8 | 84 | 732 | 6 |
| Green Bay | 42.7 | 64 | 683 | 3 |
| Buffalo | 42.5 | 67 | 680 | 4 |
| Chicago | 42.0 | 71 | 672 | 5 |
| NY Giants | 38.1 | 79 | 609 | 3 |
| Arizona | 37.2 | 53 | 595 | 3 |
| Denver | 36.9 | 53 | 591 | 2 |
| Los Angeles | 36.5 | 61 | 584 | 3 |
| Oakland | 36.3 | 58 | 581 | 5 |
| Miami | 34.4 | 55 | 551 | 6 |
| NY Jets | 10.8 | 18 | 173 | 0 |
--Andy Richardson