Evan Engram is bright spot as New York Giants offense sputters
On a day where the New York Giants offensive unit was truly offensive, second-year player, Evan Engram was just about the only player to have a positive impact.
Fresh off a dynamic rookie season, New York Giants tight end Evan Engram headed into his second season with aspirations to cement himself among the top pass catchers in the league. The former Ole Miss product flashed as a big time play maker on an otherwise putrid offense in 2017. With a new offensive-minded coach, upgrades along the offensive line and the addition of running back Saquon Barkley, most figured Engram would take a big leap.
However, through the first fifteen weeks, that has been anything but the case. Marred by nagging injuries, the speedster has been slow out of the gate and failed to put together any stretch of consistent play. While there are numerous legitimate reasons to help explain his struggles, Big Blue fans are reasonably miffed at his sophomore campaign.
One reason has been the fact that the offensive line has been such a liability, calling for Engram to unexpectedly block much more than he would like. Everyone knew blocking was not a strong suit coming out of college, and he has been called upon to chip and stay at home much of the time in the Giants base “12” personnel. Engram can do well against smaller, quicker pass rushers, but asking him to match up against the bigger ends in the league is a recipe for disaster.
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The main reason for his shoddy play can be attributed to a knee injury suffered in a week three win at Houston. Flashing his dynamic speed, Engram got loose for a big play and tweaked his knee attempting to dance down the sideline and stay in bounds.
Initially thought to be a minor injury, Engram suffered multiple setbacks in practice and was held out of three straight games. After looking balky in a week seven tilt in Atlanta, Engram failed to make an impact in the next few games. A hamstring injury would later cause him to miss another two games, and it goes without saying that a guy who relies so much on speed dealing with multiple leg injuries would not be himself.
On the rise
The low point of the season was undoubtedly in a Week 8 clash against division the rival Washington Redskins, where Engram dropped an easy pass on a critical fourth and three conversion attempt. Even though he did catch a touchdown in the game, it was easily the turning point in the devastating loss.
Per the New York Post:
"“I’ll be honest — it was definitely tough to get over. But that’s a big part of playing the game — realizing bad plays are going to happen, and it’s important to put it behind you. I was pretty pissed for a couple of days afterwards. It was a big play, but I know I make those in my sleep.”"
To his credit, it isn’t just talk according to his teammates, as they all say he has the right attitude and works as hard as anyone in practice.
Fast forward to Week 15, and Easy E finally looks like his old self. After finally showing off his big play ability with a three catches for 77-yard effort against Washington, Engram busted out in a big way with eight grabs for seven yards in a shutout loss to the Titans.
On a typical cold, rainy and windy New Jersey December day, Engram stood out, as the only play maker for the stagnant Giants offense. Eli also badly under threw him in the end zone late in the game on a play that looked like a sure touchdown.
With Big Blue officially out of playoff contention, coaches and fans will have their eyes on Engram in the last two games to see what kind of impact he can make. While his blocking has steadily improved (above average 72.8 Pro Football Focus pass block grade), Engram was drafted to be a match-up nightmare and difference maker in the pass game.
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His rapport with Manning was on point this past week, and there is no reason why they can’t hook up for a ton of big plays. While the organization is at a rocky point to say the least, he still figures to be a focal point of the plan going forward.