Make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened, seat is in upright position and all electronic devices are on airplane mode — because Rams tight end Tyler Higbee is ready for takeoff.
Higbee was solid in Week 1 with five catches for 68 yards. However, his underlying usage was highly encouraging, and this could be a chance to buy low (if you can).
I'm sounding the fantasy alarm right now on Higbee — he will be an elite TE1 the rest of the way.
For starters, he played every single snap in Week 1 and ran a route on 93% of Matthew Stafford's dropbacks. With Gerald Everett no longer with the Rams, it's clear that Higbee has zero competition for playing time. It's also clear that Stafford will elevate the Rams' offense to the levels we saw in 2018-19.
Higbee will play a key role within this scheme, and Sean McVay will set the TE up for success. This NextGenStats highlight of Higbee's 37-yard catch is the perfect example:
DeSean Jackson (#1) runs a go route that takes Bears CB Kindle Vildor (#22) with him, leaving a 13-yard window for Higbee (#89) to make a wide-open catch, with room to run. Cooper Kupp is used as a decoy as he runs into the flat, which causes Bears LB Roquan Smith (#58) to hesitate justenough to lose his assignment in Higbee, leaving the Rams TE wide open for the huge gain.
Higbee will be used as a mismatch like this often.
