[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbx61yex5whq8aq player_id=none image=https://giantswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
New York Giants fifth-year tight end Evan Engram is hoping this season is the finally the one where he ‘breaks out.’
Sure, last year Engram was named to the Pro Bowl but Giant fans are still waiting for the former first-rounder to become a more consistent presence in the Giants’ offense.
[lawrence-related id=673460,673456,673462]
One issue has been the Giants finding a niche for Engram, who at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds is a tad smaller than the traditional in-line tight end in the NFL these days. He’s played for three coaching staffs in four years and none of them have been able to unlock his potential.
Much of that has been on Engram as well. He’s battled through injuries that have stunted his progress. His propensity to drop passes in key spots has also stained whatever success he’s managed to have.
Now, Engram has just one season remaining on his contract to prove to the Giants they were right about him back in 2017. But it won’t be at the position they originally drafted him at.
The Giants signed veteran Kyle Rudolph this offseason to handle those duties. Engram will be used in other ways. The Giants will still line him up at tight end in some formations but it’s becoming clear that he will be relied on to be more of a weapon on offense this year.
That won’t be easy to do. It never has been. Now, the Giants have a glut of hands that need to be fed the football such as Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton, John Ross and rookie Kadarius Toney. Engram is not letting those additions stand in the way of whatever he can contribute to this team’s success.
“I’m excited now,” Engram said on Wednesday at the Giants’ joint practices with the Patriots in Foxborough. “I know what those guys are going to bring to the table. The biggest thing for them is to kind of pay attention off the field, stay locked in on what we’re doing so when they get back in, they’re full speed, full force. I have all the excitement about this offense. All of the guys, not just as football players, but the men that we are, how we work, how we try to improve every day. That’s all we’re doing, is working and improving everyday and we’re going to put the best part of it down on the field.”
That is, when they all return from rehabbing their injuries. Rudolph returned on Wednesday and Engram was more than happy to welcome him back.
“Everything, everything,” Engram said when asked what Rudolph brings to the offense. “He’s a receiving threat, he’s a blocking threat, he’s really smart in the film room. I learn from him, every meeting he teaches me something and I know it’s the same for the rest of the guys. He literally is going to help us in every aspect of the game and I’m really excited about it.”
So are the Giants. With Rudolph handling the tight end duties, that will free up Engram to do his thing, which is to provide mismatches in the opponent’s secondary.
[listicle id=673437]