Giants 2022 UFA Primer: TE Evan Engram
Evan Engram, Tight End
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 240 lbs.
Age: 27
NFL Exp.: 5 years
College: Ole Miss
Evan Engram was a member of the New York Giants 2017 draft class—the last group picked by former general manager Jerry Reese before being fired during that season.
A player named to multiple All-SEC teams and an All-American distinction in 2016, Engram, the No. 23 overall pick in that 2017 draft, spent four years at Ole Miss, in which he amassed 162 catches, 2,320 yards, and 15 touchdowns.
After joining the Giants, the hope was that Engram would upgrade an area of the team’s roster that was awful the previous year and had accumulated only three touchdowns. Then-head coach Ben McAdoo named Engram the starting tight end soon after camp, and he’s held the position ever since.
Through five seasons (65 games), during which the Giants had two different general managers and annual offensive personnel turnover, Engram’s numbers have not been bad.
He holds 262 catches for 2,828 yards and 16 touchdowns. His best marks came in his rookie campaign when he caught 64 passes (115 targets) for 722 yards and six touchdowns.
The tight end was also involved in the Giants rushing game, taking some direct snaps through jet sweeps and the motion game. Yet, the highest yardage he tallied on the ground was 36 yards on three carries in the 2018 season.
In terms of injuries, Engram has posted three seasons with 15 or 16 games played. In 2018 and 2019, Engram missed five games in the former year for MCL and foot injuries, and in the latter, he played only eight games after landing on injured reserve for another foot injury.
Despite his numbers, Engram has been prone to drawing the ire of Giants fans for his critical mistakes at times. In the 2020 season, in a Week 7 game against the Eagles, Engram became a poster child for criticism when he dropped a big pass from Daniel Jones on a third-down pass well into Eagles territory with just over two minutes left in regulation. The Giants had a 21-16 lead, and they proceeded to punt and eventually lose 22-21.
Earlier that year, the Giants picked up Engram’s fifth-year option, worth $6.013 million for the 2021 season. After another pedestrian season in 2021, they now face the decision of whether to re-sign the athletic tight end or let him walk away.
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2021 Recap
The 2020 season might have been one filled with disdain from the fan base, but Engram did see his production improve from the year before in most categories. The same can’t be said for 2021, as the reverse happened for the tight end.
Active for 15 games, Engram had 46 receptions on 73 targets for 408 yards (career-low) and three touchdowns. He averaged 8.9 yards per catch (also a career-low) and helped the Giants convert 21 first downs in the same span.
Engram was the third-best receiver on the Giants roster, trailing only Kenny Golladay and rookie Kadarius Toney in total receiving yardage. His rankings were much less impressive at the league level—he finished tied for 84th in receptions, 108th in yards, and 75th in touchdowns.
Engram’s best performance came in Week 13 against the Miami Dolphins, where he caught four passes for 61 yards. The Giants wound up losing that contest 20-9, one of their more head-scratching defeats.
Why the Giants Should Keep Him
Evan Engram is not your average tight end when he wants to be.
When he plays at his best, he can be a dangerous weapon for the Giants. He has the size, athleticism, and speed to compete and make big-time plays in the open field. He can line up next to the offensive line or out wide as a receiver and is capable of breaking off the line of scrimmage, running crisp routes, making contested catches, and turning up the field quickly in a race for the end zone.
Turn back to Week 12 of the 2020 season for a perfect example of this. The Giants were on the road in Cincinnati, and Engram had arguably his best performance of the year, catching six passes for a whopping 129 yards. Engram was inserted into several different spots on the field and turned many of his receptions into big-time yardage plays that helped lead the Giants to a 19-17 win.
That said, Engram offers the Giants an extra pass-catching weapon amid a period of offensive change and constant uncertainty concerning how the rest of their playmakers will perform.
This past season, the Giants struggled tremendously on offense–they were ranked 30th or worse in passing yards and touchdowns–and many of their top-skill players failed to rise to expectations for one reason or another.
By no stretch of the imagination was he like Jeremy Shockey with his numbers. Still, Engram could at least contribute a few touchdowns and extra production to a Giants offense that needed every crumb it could find.
He finished far above his tight end counterparts as well, beating out Kyle Rudolph (26 catches for 257 yards) and Kaden Smith (3 catches, 33 yards) in the long list of receivers who caught at least one pass for the team all season.
Why the Giants Shouldn’t Keep Him
We would be remiss not to consider the problems Engram has contributed to the Giants offense in the past few seasons.
First on that list is his inability to handle the ball when it comes his direction at times. Engram has 29 dropped passes 10 percent of his career targets.
He has a 34.4 percent contested catch rate despite his size, and his miscues have arguably cost the Giants most on critical third- and fourth-down plays amid a comeback or an attempt to solidify a rare win for them.
Engram has also had trouble in fulfilling the blocking role of his position and helping the offensive line protect the quarterback from constant pressure. With a 97.9 pass-blocking efficiency rating, Engram has been a willing blocker, but not always an effective one.
Keep or Dump?
The Giants are entering the offseason with a brand new offensive-minded coaching staff led by head coach Brian Daboll, the former Bill’s offensive coordinator. It’s nearly certain his goal is to turn the offense into the high-production machine he had in Buffalo (the Bills’ offense was top 5 in many major statistical categories).
They are also over the projected cap for the 2022 season, and general manager Joe Schoen is said to be getting ready to cut an estimated $40 million off the team’s roster expenses.
There’s a likely probability that Engram doesn’t survive the cuts because he will desire a larger annual contract than the $6 million he played on this past season. That aside, he hasn’t lived up to complete expectations in New York and could benefit from a change of scenery.
If the Giants were to part ways with their starting tight end since 2017, there are some names to pursue in the free-agent market later this year, but some may come with too hefty of a price tag (Mike Gesicki of Miami and Dalton Schultz of Dallas come to mind) that make it too steep for the cap-strapped Giants to pay.
A better option is the draft, where the Giants, who more than likely won't rely on as much 12-personnel as they have in the past--Brian Daboll comes from a Bills team where he, as the offensive coordinator, used 11-personnel (1 running back, one tight end) on a league-leading 71 percent of the offensive snaps.
Theoretically, the Giants could keep Kaden Smith, assuming his season-ending knee issue doesn't linger, and add a lower cost and more fresh-legged draft pick, thereby enabling them to say goodbye to Engram.
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