NY Giants’ Postseason Hopes Depend on These 8 Players

TE Evan Engram needs to play up to his skill level and remain consistent

Following management’s decision to retain Evan Engram at the Trade Deadline, the pressure on the star tight end to start playing up to his skill level on a more consistent basis has increased.

Frankly, he needs to be the complete receiving end the Giants envisioned him as being for QB Daniel Jones prior to the start of the 2020 season.

Interestingly, with the exception of Engram, each of the players mentioned so far were acquired by Dave Gettleman; demonstrating how the GM has his fingerprints all over this roster and that it is the talent he has assembled on this team that will make or break the Giants playoff chances – and perhaps even his own job.

With Engram, it’s no different. When healthy, he has an impressive repertoire of skills to outperform defenders in one-on-one matchups. But this is a pivotal year for the young tight end as his play down the stretch will impact whether management decides to pick up his fifth-year option to keep him under team control through 2021 or let him go.

Once it was believed that a healthy Engram would be an offensive star, and essentially a fourth receiver for Jones to develop a connection with over the course of a full season. However, now that he’s healthy, his performances have lacked consistency.

So far this season the 26-year-old has reigned in a career-low 38 receptions for 347 yards along with just 1 touchdown. For a player of his caliber on a team striving to eke out a division title, his ability to bounce-back after the BYE week will be absolutely critical to that goal.