Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee has been a serviceable fantasy football tight end over the past three seasons but has never lived up to his scorching close to 2019. What can fantasy managers expect from Higbee in the 2022 season, and is he a good value at his current ADP in fantasy drafts?
Tyler Higbee’s fantasy outlook for 2022
Higbee’s close to the 2019 season is the stuff legends are made of. He scored at least 18.6 PPR fantasy points in every game from Week 13-17. It was obviously unsustainable, but it established that Higbee possessed the talent to produce at that level. Unfortunately, he failed to get anywhere close to his ceiling in 2020 and 2021, averaging 8.5 and 9.8 ppg in those seasons, respectively.
Entering the 2022 campaign, Higbee remains the Rams’ starting tight end. Last season, he saw a respectable 15.7% target share and ran a route on 83% of the team’s pass plays. Higbee also led all tight ends in red-zone targets.
How the Rams’ depth chart impacts Tyler Higbee’s fantasy projection for the season
The Rams’ target hierarchy will look very similar in 2022 as it did in 2021. Although Robert Woods is gone and Odell Beckham Jr. is out until likely at least November, the Rams still have Van Jefferson and brought in Allen Robinson to be their WR2. Cooper Kupp will dominate targets as the alpha, with ARob taking over the Woods role. We can reasonably project Higbee’s role to remain the same.
The Rams ran 11 personnel a league-high 86% of the time last season. That keeps Higbee on the field along with three wide receivers. This may not seem like much, but being on the field and running routes is half the battle for most tight ends. At the very least, it gives Higbee a chance to score a touchdown, which is all that really matters for the non-elite tight ends.
Higbee’s ADP for 2022
Higbee’s ADP is outside the top 12 tight ends. He’s going at about the TE14 with an overall ADP of 145.
I’m right in line with ADP on Higbee, ranking him as my TE14. He’s our consensus TE18. Despite being a bit higher than my fellow PFN fantasy analysts, I’m not overly enthused about drafting Higbee. He’s a serviceable tight end in a good offense. Even in drafts where I wait on tight end, I can probably do better than Higbee.
With that said, if you are in a more casual league where teams draft two tight ends, you may be forced into a weaker TE1 than you initially hoped. Higbee is a safe bet to at least not get you zero.