Terrance Ferguson’s hidden value

Rams tight end Terrance Ferguson still isn’t in the top-30 for receiving yards by a rookie this season, but L.A.‘s third option at the position is making a difference while he isn’t making any catches. In this film breakdown of Ferguson’s run blocking against the Cardinals in Week 14, the YouTube channel Saturday Morning Inspection highlights why L.A.‘s top pick is valuable already before he becomes a weapon in Sean McVay’s offense.

After watching this video, do you think more highly of Ferguson’s contributions to the Rams as a rookie than you did before you got here?

Was that blocking good enough to rate Ferguson as a “good rookie” already?

Not a receiving tight end yet

It’s hard not to notice that rookies Harold Fannin and Oronde Gadsen are already major weapons for their teams and they were picked after Ferguson.

Fannin had 114 yards in Cleveland’s loss to the Titans in Week 14, catching a touchdown that nearly tied the game if the Browns didn’t fart the 2-point conversion attempt. The third round pick out of Bowling Green has 619 yards despite playing for the Browns.

Gadsen was a fifth round pick and he has 541 yards for the Miami Dolphins.

It’s fine to believe that Ferguson still has the better upside and brighter future. We just don’t know yet. But as rookies there’s no denying that Cleveland and Miami have exploited the receiving talents of their rookie tight ends far more than McVay has attempted to do with Ferguson.

Other rookie tight ends over 200 yards this season include Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland, Mason Taylor, and Gunnar Helm.

Over the last four games, Ferguson has caught 0 passes on 4 targets. Even though Tyler Higbee is back on the shelf, McVay has not let that absence force him into a decision on giving Ferguson more opportunities. Clearly the Rams still don’t think he’s ready for targets even though he just had a career-high 45 snaps against Arizona.

Blocking — which you’ll also see on display in this film breakdown from The OL Committee — is the reason that Ferguson is on the field.

Should Ferguson be targeted more in the final month of the season? It probably won’t happen.

With Puka Nacua and Davante Adams demanding the vast majority of Matthew Stafford’s attention (over 100 targets each while no other Rams player is over 35 targets), the Rams are happy with the passing offense.

By next year, fans will only be happy if Ferguson is a part of it too.