Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson selected by Rams in second round

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams selected Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson with the 46th overall pick in the second round of the NFL draft on Friday night.

Ferguson had 134 catches for 1,537 yards and 16 touchdowns in four seasons with the Ducks, earning first-team All-Pac-12 recognition in 2023.

Ferguson represents a potential long-term answer at the position for the Rams. Tyler Higbee, a nine-year veteran, is going into the final season of a two-year contract extension he signed in 2023. Colby Parkinson signed a three-year contract in free agency in March 2024 with Higbee coming off a serious knee injury in the previous postseason, but Parkinson didn't have much of an impact in his first season with Los Angeles as he finished with 30 receptions for 294 yards and one touchdown.

The Rams traded the No. 26 overall pick and a third-round selection to the Atlanta Falcons for second-round and seventh-round selections in this year’s draft and a 2026 first-round pick on Thursday, with Atlanta taking Tennessee defensive end James Pearce Jr. It marked the eighth time in the past nine years the Rams did not make a pick in the first round.

But the Rams have had seven winning seasons in the past eight years under coach Sean McVay, including a Super Bowl victory following the 2021 campaign. Consecutive 10-win seasons each of the past two years have been fueled by success on the second day of the draft, rebuilding their defensive line with edge rusher Byron Young and tackle Kobie Turner in 2023 and tackle in Braden Fiske in 2024. They also took offensive lineman Steve Avila in the second round two years ago as part of the overhaul on both lines of scrimmage.