What You Need to Know:

• Higbee posted a 44-521-5 line in 15 games last year. He missed Week 7 with a hand injury.
• He finished 24th among TEs in PPR points per game; 17th in non-PPR.
• 22.5% of his PPR production came in a 3-TD outing vs. the Eagles in Week 2.
• Higbee had 1 other top-5 weekly finish but scored as a top-12 TE in just 3 of his 15 outings. That rate of 20% ranked just 29th at the position.
• Higbee was efficient last year. Among 35 TEs with 40+ targets, Higbee ranked …
  • 5th in yards per target
  • 7th in yards per route run
  • 15th in Pro Football Focus’ receiving grades
• Higbee shared TE duties with Gerald Everett last year. In their 15 games together, Higbee out-targeted Everett 60 to 57. Higbee ran 322 pass routes to Everett’s 266.
• Everett signed with the Seahawks in free agency. The only addition the Rams made at TE was 4th-round rookie Jacob Harris. 2020 4th-rounder Brycen Hopkins and blocker Johnny Mundt return.
• Higbee should soak up a big chunk of the 62 total targets Everett leaves behind.
  • Rams TEs totaled just 88 and 85 targets in HC Sean McVay’s first 2 seasons. That’s climbed to 156 and 126 the past 2 years. Expect something between those 2 extremes in 2021.
• We saw Higbee for 5 games without Everett back in 2019. The results were massive, with Higbee posting the following lines:
  • 7-107-1
  • 7-116
  • 12-111
  • 9-104
  • 8-84-1
• He led all TEs in PPR and non-PPR points over that stretch.
• The Rams got a likely QB upgrade this offseason, going from Jared Goff to Matt Stafford. Stafford has earned a higher Pro Football Focus passing grade than Goff in 2 straight seasons and 3 of the last 4.

Draft Sharks Bottom Line:

Higbee was a fantasy disappointment last year because he shared TE duties with Gerald Everett.

Everett is gone now. And when we got Higbee without Everett for 5 games back in 2019, Higbee led all TEs in fantasy points.

He also gets a likely QB upgrade this season, with the Rams going from Jared Goff to Matt Stafford.

Add it all up and Higbee is a good bet for TE1 production -- with a ceiling that climbs into the top 5.