The Rams face the Bears in Week 1. It's a great situation for their defense, certainly, and also for getting a win. They beat Chicago 24-10 last year, with the Bears' only touchdown coming on a defensive score. Nice matchup for Tyler Higbee, too.
While Chicago's defense was generally above-average a year ago, it was notably suspect defending tight ends. The Bears allowed nearly as many touchdowns to tight ends (12) last season as wide receivers (15). Good spot for Higbee to get off to a nice start.
Table shows the week-by-week numbers of each opponent's top-performing tight ends against the Bears. Excluded are three teams (Panthers, Jaguars, Texans) who didn't throw much to the position all year. Most of those players did pretty well, and a majority of them got in the end zone.
| TES VERSUS CHICAGO, 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Yds | TD |
| Hockenson, Det. | 5 | 56 | 1 |
| Engram, NYG | 6 | 65 | 0 |
| Hurst, Atl. | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Alie-Cox, Ind. | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| Brate, T.B. | 5 | 44 | 0 |
| Everett, LAR | 4 | 28 | 1 |
| Cook, N.O. | 5 | 51 | 1 |
| J.Smith, Ten. | 2 | 32 | 1 |
| Rudolph, Min. | 4 | 63 | 0 |
| Tonyan, G.B. | 5 | 67 | 1 |
| Hockenson, Det. | 7 | 84 | 0 |
| Conklin, Min. | 3 | 57 | 1 |
| Tonyan, G.B. | 2 | 18 | 1 |
| Cook, N.O. | 4 | 40 | 0 |
If you drafted Higbee as a second tight end, no need to get crazy starting him over an elite option. As I write this, I'm not certain where he'll wind up in the rankings; the Rams have some very good wide receivers. But a nice choice if you're not blessed with a top option.
--Andy Richardson