WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – The Rams entered the 2025 season with depth and intriguing potential at tight end, enough so that they had discussed using multi-tight end formations more this year.
Various reasons contributed to that not surfacing right away at the start of the season, primarily the effectiveness of wide receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams as focal points of the offense. The health of the tight end position factored into that as well, with Tyler Higbee and Colby Parkinson both missing time due to injuries earlier this season.
The room is now fully healthy, and even with Nacua's return from injury and Adams being on a red zone heater, Los Angeles has found ways to realize that potential – and not just with two tight ends on the field, but three in 13 personnel formations.
Besides that health, Terrance Ferguson's growth and development has been another key factor in unlocking that potential in the offense.
"I think the thing you guys hear me say over and over is 'Repetition's the mother of learning,'" head coach Sean McVay said earlier this week. "He's getting better and he's using those reps to grow and it's not exclusive to the plays that he makes when the ball is in his hands. He's doing some good stuff without the ball, learning how to be a complete tight end."
Across L.A.'s last two games, Ferguson has hauled in 3 of 6 targets for 85 yards and one touchdown, with longs of 31 and 36 yards. His explosiveness and athleticism have helped create mismatches against teams that match that personnel.
He's been efficient with his targets overall when involved: He has four catches for 106 yards and one touchdown in his six games played, good for 26.5 yards per catch.
For the first five weeks of the season, Ferguson was either inactive (Weeks 3 and 4) or played almost exclusively on special teams with no more than four offensive snaps. Since Week 6, he's played at least 30% of the Rams' offensive snaps. Ferguson on this week's episode of Rams Revealed said this is the first time in his entire football career he's played on the scout team, though he views it as a blessing and beneficial, important reps to help him get ready.
"It's such a blessing," Ferguson said this week on Rams Revealed. "A lot (of) it's patience and trusting the process, and coach has done (a) great job, and everyone in the organization has done a great job getting me ready for this, and making sure that I've been taking my practice reps, getting (with) each practice rep. I think in today's age, everyone wants everything now. ... They've had a plan from Day 1, and just trusting those guys, trusting God's timing."
There's been plenty of learning moments along the way too, like last Sunday against the Saints when a hot broadcast mic picked up quarterback Matthew Stafford yelling "someone get the (expletive) on," which was directed at Ferguson to get on the line of scrimmage correctly. But he listened, applied the feedback and corrected his positioning.
It was against the 49ers five weeks ago that Ferguson recorded his first catch, a 21-yard gain for a third-down conversion. More of those same explosive plays – especially like the ones he's made in recent weeks – will go a long way to helping the Rams on Sunday and sustaining the 13 personnel momentum.
"I think he's continuing to develop," Stafford said. "You have to give him a lot of credit. He's put a lot of work in. He's a guy that has a natural skillset. He's a really talented player. He's done a nice job the last couple weeks of, hey, here's your role this week and can you go out there and master that and make the plays when you get the chances and go out there and compete, have fun and do all the things that we want you to do. He's done a great job of that. I think he has three other guys in that room and a coach that he can really lean on to show him how it's done. He's absorbed that information and feedback and done a great job of translating that onto the grass."
