Max Klare is giving the Rams exactly the kind of tight end they’ve been hunting for
The Rams have made no secret of the kind of team they want to be: tougher, more physical, harder to deal with from top to bottom. That shows up in the tight end room, where Tyler Higbee has long carried the “Big Rig Higs” label and veteran Colby Parkinson is the only other returning tight end who can really do both jobs - catch and block.
Davis Allen leans into the blocking side. Terrance Ferguson is more of a receiving threat.
Klare, though, looks like the new wrinkle.
Training camp buzz has already started around the rookie, and the note that stands out is a simple one: he’s been seen neutralizing veteran edge rushers. That kind of detail usually doesn’t come from the people standing at a distance, and it matters because it speaks to the exact profile the Rams seem to want.
In other words, Klare looks like a tight end who can stay on the field for the full job description.
That matters in Los Angeles. “You have to block to get the rock” is more than a catchy line there; it’s the way the position is judged.
Last season, Allen drew 25 targets and Ferguson 33, and those two combined for just 10 percent of the Rams’ total. Matthew Stafford had plenty of other places to go with the football.
Klare doesn’t guarantee anything this season, but he does give the Rams something worth watching. At 6-foot-4 and 246 pounds, he’s on the smaller side for the position, but he plays with force, can handle himself against an edge rusher and can bring down the difficult catches too.
Like any rookie, he still has to get the playbook down and absorb everything that comes with the job before the Rams fully trust him. But the early signs are encouraging.
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Snead said Donald is pushing his training harder as he gauges whether he can still perform at the level that made him one of the franchises defining players. The timing matters, too, because the Rams have already reshaped the roster this offseason with major additions, including Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie. If Donald is seriously weighing a return, it would add another layer to a camp that already feels very different from the one the Rams expected when the offseason began. [Read more 🡒]
