Are the Rams tight ends good enough?

The Los Angeles Rams have shifted part of the identity of the offense in 2025. Throughout much of head coach Sean McVay’s tenure, the Rams have primarily been an 11 personnel team, operating with three wide receivers on the field. However, this season, the Rams have mixed in a lot more 12 personnel, utilizing two tight ends in the offense with depth at the position.

This season, the Rams have operated in 11 personnel at a 68.7 percent clip which is the 13th highest rate in the league. For comparison, this was 82.4 percent last year. That ranked second in the NFL. In 2024, the Rams were in 12 personnel on 15.6 percent of their offensive plays, ranking 25th and this season that has jumped to 29.7 percent which is 11th.

That variety can be a good thing and the offense hasn’t been a problem by any means. Still, it does seem limited in the sense that it feeds through just two players in the passing game. This season, Puka Nacua has a 36.5 percent target share while Davante Adams is right behind him at 29.2 percent. The next closest player is Tyler Higbee at 6.3%. Nacua has 36.5 percent of the team’s air yards and Adams is ahead of him at 46.4 percent. Higbee is at 1.4 percent, but the next closest to Nacua is Davis Allen at 5.7 percent.

All teams are going to have a disparity between their top two targets in the passing game and the third. However, this is the first time in the McVay era that the third target in the offense has a target share under 10 percent. For comparison, the Detroit Lions have a similar split to the Rams in 11 and 12 personnel. Amon-Ra St. Brown leads the Lions with a 25.3 percent target share with Sam LaPorta and Jameson Williams right behind him. LaPorta and Williams have a target share of 17.9 and 12.6 percent.

In other words, the targets are much more evenly dispersed throughout the offense. There is a legitimate third threat on the field when the Lions go to 12 personnel packages. That isn’t the case with the Rams currently.

Coming into the season, there were some questions on whether or not McVay would utilize tight ends in the offense, especially after drafting Terrance Ferguson with the 46th overall pick. However, as noted this offseason,

“It’s worth noting that Higbee and Everett combined for 77 targets in 2017 which would have been fourth on the team behind only Kupp, Todd Gurley, and Robert Woods. They combined for 84 targets the following year which would have been third behind Woods and Brandin Cooks. The duo combined for over 150 targets and 1,000 yards in 2019.”

This is a team that has utilized tight ends in the passing game in the past under McVay. So, why aren’t they doing so now? It then becomes a question of whether or not the talent is good enough. Higbee had some...