I sure like Evan Engram a lot. Not so much because of his hands, speed or any other quality, but because of the offense he’s in.
Engram led all tight ends last year with 114 catches – 19 more than anyone else at his position. Most of those were short and of little value (he averaged only 8.5 yards per catch) but they’re putting the ball in his hands.
The driving factor here, I think, isn’t Engram or Trevor Lawrence, but Doug Pederson. When Pederson was with the Eagles, he had a tight end finish with top-10 numbers in all five of his season. Zach Ertz finished in the top 4 in four of those seasons.
Pederson has spent seven seasons as a head coach. In those years, his teams have averaged 126 completions to tight ends. That’s the 2nd-most in the league in those seasons, trailing only the Raiders.
TIGHT ENDS (Pederson's 7 seasons) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
2024 | Las Vegas | 898 | 9719 | 10.8 | 58 |
2024 | Pederson tms | 880 | 9024 | 10.3 | 59 |
2024 | Kansas City | 837 | 10094 | 12.1 | 74 |
2024 | Philadelphia | 749 | 8239 | 11.0 | 58 |
2024 | Baltimore | 715 | 8126 | 11.4 | 64 |
2024 | Minnesota | 614 | 5907 | 9.6 | 46 |
2024 | Atlanta | 588 | 6525 | 11.1 | 40 |
2024 | Indianapolis | 583 | 6358 | 10.9 | 59 |
2024 | NY Giants | 579 | 5892 | 10.2 | 32 |
2024 | Dallas | 575 | 5711 | 9.9 | 48 |
2024 | San Francisco | 575 | 7651 | 13.3 | 52 |
2024 | Cleveland | 572 | 6124 | 10.7 | 55 |
2024 | Tennessee | 566 | 6010 | 10.6 | 48 |
2024 | Seattle | 545 | 5584 | 10.2 | 54 |
2024 | Tampa Bay | 542 | 6269 | 11.6 | 60 |
2024 | LA Chargers | 541 | 5826 | 10.8 | 45 |
2024 | Jacksonville | 521 | 5017 | 9.6 | 23 |
2024 | Pittsburgh | 516 | 5051 | 9.8 | 31 |
2024 | Detroit | 515 | 5421 | 10.5 | 51 |
2024 | LA Rams | 508 | 5362 | 10.6 | 30 |
2024 | Denver | 504 | 5295 | 10.5 | 36 |
2024 | Green Bay | 502 | 5298 | 10.6 | 39 |
2024 | Washington | 501 | 5088 | 10.2 | 32 |
2024 | Houston | 490 | 5523 | 11.3 | 42 |
2024 | Arizona | 481 | 5100 | 10.6 | 32 |
2024 | Cincinnati | 475 | 4279 | 9.0 | 32 |
2024 | Chicago | 469 | 4689 | 10.0 | 45 |
2024 | Miami | 462 | 4877 | 10.6 | 30 |
2024 | Buffalo | 442 | 4727 | 10.7 | 42 |
2024 | New England | 434 | 5259 | 12.1 | 36 |
2024 | New Orleans | 431 | 4899 | 11.4 | 55 |
2024 | NY Jets | 431 | 4259 | 9.9 | 27 |
2024 | Carolina | 364 | 3799 | 10.4 | 22 |
Engram is in the Ertz role now. He averaged 4.3 catches in the 2022 season (heating up late in the year), and he moved up to 6.7 per game in the just-completed season. He may also benefit some from the Jaguars losing Calvin Ridley in free agency (they’ve signed Gabe Davis, but he’s never been a volume pass catcher).
Engram was plagued by injuries when he was with New York, but he hasn’t missed any of 36 possible games with the Jaguars (including the playoffs).
Looks like a safe bet for 90-plus catches to me. Not a big red-zone option (he’s caught only 4 TDs in each of the last two seasons). In PPR formats, Engram will be one of the first five tight ends on my board. At least.
—Ian Allan