Tyler Higbee returns to the Rams’ lineup—how will his role evolve post-ACL injury?
For the first time this season, the Los Angeles Rams will have their starting tight end back in the lineup. After taking a hit to the knee and tearing his ACL in the wild card playoff game last January, Tyler Higbee has been sidelined. He’ll be making his season debut on Sunday against the New York Jets.
Over the past eight years, Higbee has been the Rams’ primary tight end. He’s the most productive tight end in franchise history as he holds the record for most receptions, yards, and touchdowns at the position. However, in the offseason, the Rams signed Colby Parkinson in free agency and Davis Allen’s role has increased. While the Rams have utilized more 12 personnel this season, they still rank inside the bottom five in two tight end usage.
It’s not just that the Rams aren’t using 12 personnel at a high rate, but their usage of the tight end position in general is down. Colby Parkinson signed a three-year, $22.5-million contract in the offseason. Parkinson has run a route on just 53.3 percent of the team’s dropbacks which ranks 28th among tight ends and his target share of 9.6 percent ranks 33rd. His 0.17 targets per route is tied for 54th.
For comparison, last year Tyler Higbee ran a route on 73.6 percent of the Rams’ dropbacks and had a target share of 12.9 percent. His target per route run of 0.16 was lower than Parkinson’s 0.17. However, that was Higbee in a down year and he was still more involved than Parkinson in the passing game.
Through 15 weeks, Parkinson has just 29 receptions for 288 yards. For comparison, Higbee had 15 receptions for 128 yards over the final three weeks of the regular season last year. Parkinson simply has not been productive in the Rams offense and has only caught 63 percent of his targets.
Despite the low production, this has largely been what the Rams offense has evolved into since the second half of last season. When they first traded for Matthew Stafford, the Rams operated more as a spread offense. Higbee was a large part of that, earning a 14.8 percent target share and running a route on 80 percent of the team’s dropbacks.
The Rams simply haven’t been that type of offense for much of the last year and a half. With the emergence of Puka Nacua in the offense, the tight end role in the offense has changed. This is shown by how often Higbee ran a route in the first half of last year compared to the second half. In Weeks 1-9, Higbee ran a route on 79.2 percent of the team’s dropbacks. That dropped down to 64.5 percent in Weeks 11-17.
Additionally, the Rams have three players that they rotate pretty frequently. Last week against the 49ers, Colby Parkinson led the way with 32 snaps, Hunter Long had 22, and Davis Allen had 15. It’s fair to wonder where Tyler Higbee fits into that rotation. Will the Rams dress four tight ends on game day or will Allen or Long end up a healthy scratch?
If the Rams do dress four tight ends, they would have to sacrifice elsewhere whether that is at wide receiver or somewhere else on the roster.
The Rams have brought Tyler Higbee back slowly, not rushing him back into action. However, there is no more delaying the inevitable. At some point, Higbee was going to return. Now, it’s up to McVay to determine how often he is used in the offense. Coming off of a torn ACL at age 31, it’s fair to wonder how effective he can still be.
