Tag: Evan Engram

ESPN projects solid numbers for Giants’ Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley

ESPN predicts a modest improvement for New York Giants QB Daniel Jones and RB Saquon Barkley in 2020.

The New York Giants enter the 2020 season with a new head coach, new coaching staff, two completely new systems, a handful of new faces and a plethora of returning young talent.

By most accounts, they are poised to turn the corner and finally begin their ascension after years of residing in the basement.

But what might some of the individual numbers look like when all was said and done? ESPN’s recently pondered the same as part of their 2020 fantasy outlook, and projected some solid statistics for several different Giants.

After suffering a down year as the result of a high ankle sprain, ESPN projects only a mild improvement for running back Saquon Barkley: 1,158 rushing yards, 460 receiving yards and 12 combined touchdowns.

Barkley’s 2019 season fell short of lofty expectations, but the 2018 second-overall pick finished strongly and remains an elite fantasy asset. Barkley, who missed three games because of injury, was on the field for 84% of New York’s snaps — about the same as his rookie season (83%) — when active. His 16.7 carries per game were up slightly from 2018 (16.3), though his targets inexplicably fell from 7.4 to 5.5 per game. Barkley still managed the third-most fantasy points among RBs during his 12 full weeks. We shouldn’t count on a big rebound in targets with Jason Garrett running the offense, but Barkley does figure to see more run at the goal line (only seven carries inside the 5 last season). Only Christian McCaffrey is a clear superior fantasy asset to 23-year-old Barkley.

Entering his second NFL season, ESPN projects a substantial boost in yardage production from Daniel Jones, but the remainder of his statistics look eerily familiar: 3,733 yards pass, 267 yards rushing, 27 combined touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Jones was in and out of the lineup during his rookie campaign, but the 2019 sixth overall pick certainly made an impact when on the field. During 12 starts, Jones paced all rookie QBs with 24 pass TDs and was fifth in fantasy points. Jones’ efficiency wasn’t good (62% completion rate, 6.6 YPA), but inconsistency is common for rookie passers. Despite the Giants’ top targets playing zero games together due to injury, the New York offense ranked 13th in touchdowns during Jones’ rookie campaign. Jones is armed with a solid supporting cast and adds value with his legs (he ranked seventh in rushing yards as a rookie). Consider him a fringe top-12 QB and a breakout candidate.

Here’s a quick look at some of ESPN’s other stat projections for the Giants:

  • Sterling Shepard: 71 receptions for 789 yards and six touchdowns
  • Golden Tate: 65 receptions for 803 yards and five touchdowns
  • Darius Slayton: 55 receptions for 777 yards and five touchdowns
  • Evan Engram: 64 receptions for 690 yards and five touchdowns
  • Aldrick Rosas: 25/31 on field goals, 36/40 on PATs

On the downside, ESPN also projects the Giants’ defense to finish 31st in the league, barely edging out the Carolina Panthers, who are predicted to finish dead last.

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Dan Schneier offers bold predictions for Giants’ DeAndre Baker, Will Hernandez

Dan Schneier of CBS Sports recently offered up some bold predictions for three New York Giants players.

The New York Giants, like most NFL teams, are still waiting for some their high draft picks from recent years to reach their full potential. If you peruse the Giants’ roster, you can pretty much figure out who those players are.

The first one that comes to mind, tight end Evan Engram, a former first round pick who is entering his fourth season. Engram has shown flashes of greatness but injuries, a case of the drops and inconsistent usage have bogged hm down.

Our colleague over at CBS Sports Dan Schneier believes that Engram could break out under new offensive coordinator Jason Garrett this year.

Garrett’s offense has been described as tight end-friendly and the numbers support this. This is great news for Engram. Specifically, tight ends in Garrett’s offense are asked to do a little bit more in the vertical passing game up the seams. This is a key aspect of Engram’s game that has oddly been underutilized during the first three seasons of his career with multiple coordinators. At the 2017 combine, Engram ran a 4.42 40-yard dash at 234 pounds. He also had a 36-inch vertical jump. More importantly, Engram hit on several long touchdowns up the seam during his career at Ole Miss.

Another player Schneier identifies for a break out is left guard Will Hernandez, who was a second round pick in 2018. As a rookie, Hernandez was ranked the seventh-best left guard in football. A regression in 2019 has many hopeful that Garrett and the new offensive line coach Marc Columbo can get Hernandez back on the right track.

Hernandez finished No. 28 overall and it gets worse when you factor in guards who played approximately 50% of their team’s snaps. And per my own evaluation of the All-22 coaches film of every snap Hernandez has played with the Giants, the regression was real. The question becomes why did Hernandez regress and is it a sign of things to come or just a blip in the career of an impressive young lineman.

The massive regression of left tackle Nate Solder (who he plays alongside) may have played a factor, but ultimately, I think the biggest factor is that Hernandez has been blocking in a scheme that doesn’t fit his skill set. If you look back over his first two seasons with the Giants, Hernandez’s best snaps came when Shurmur (very rarely) called for a power or gap-blocking run play. When the Giants pulled Hernandez, he made defenders in space pay for it and opened up big holes for Saquon Barkley more times than not. The good news is that the Giants are expected to shift their blocking scheme and utilize more power and gap plays under Garrett and offensive line coach Marc Colombo.

The third player Schneier believes could break out is cornerback DeAndre Baker, a first round pick in 2019. Baker looked lost early on last season and now faces major legal troubles, so we’ll play along for the moment.

When evaluating his 2019 play as a whole, the majority of Baker’s struggles seem to tie back to the mental side of things. Based on what you see on the All-22, Baker actually did a better job of staying in phase in coverage (essentially stay in the hip pocket of a receiver while in coverage) than any cornerback on the roster aside from Janoris Jenkins — and at times even better than Jackrabbit. However, far too many times was Baker lost in coverage concepts that were likely foreign to him (and yes, he deserves some of the blame for not picking them up in time).

To be fair to Baker, former defensive coordinator James Bettcher utilized one of the more complicated defensive systems in the NFL — specifically in pass coverage. He often tasked his defensive backs with pattern match coverage concepts that would have likely worked a lot better with an experienced secondary (like he had in Arizona before joining the Giants). In 2020, Graham is expected to bring in a more defensive back-friendly system. Based on that, Baker’s two years of dominance at the SEC level, and the real strides he made during the stretch run of the 2019 season, I expect a major step forward in 2020.

Even if Baker is exonerated, he’s not home free. The league can still choose to suspend him based on the personal conduct policy parameters.

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Giants’ Evan Engram credits Eli Manning with the best pass he’s ever received

New York Giants TE Evan Engram says the best pass he’s ever received came off the arm of QB Eli Manning against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Since the New York Giants drafted Ole Miss tight end Evan Engram with the 23rd section in the 2017 NFL Draft, there has been little doubt of his ability to excel on the football field.

Engram has been held back by several issues on his way to stardom, however. First, as a rookie, he had a severe case of the dropsies. His next two seasons were marred by injuries but the Giants have not given up the ship on him, opting last week to pick up his fifth-year option.

Engram has teased Giant fans with flashes of greatness. He has a tantalizing size/speed combination that makes him a salivating target in the passing game, something Eli Manning found out many a time in their two-plus seasons together with the Giants.

Engram grew up in awe of Manning, a star at Ole Miss in his own right, and that admiration stands to this day.

“This pass from Eli at 1:25 was the most beautiful pass I’ve ever received,” Engram wrote in a tweet alongside a video showing some of the tight end’s best plays.

The Giants never really could figure out what to do with Engram even though he was a mismatch machine on almost every play. Perhaps he can rekindle the synchronicity he had with Eli with new quarterback Daniel Jones, and along with some creative planning by offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, will finally reach his full potential.

Giants will make decision this week on Evan Engram, Jabrill Peppers

The New York Giants will make fifth-year option decisions on TE Evan Engram and S Jabrill Peppers this week.

This week many NFL teams will be faced with the decision whether or not to exercise the fifth-year option on their first round-picks from 2017.

For the New York Giants, that player is tight end Evan Engram, who they selected with the 23rd overall pick that year.

They also hold the option for another first-round pick in that draft. Safety Jabrill Peppers was selected 25th by the Cleveland Browns. Peppers, of course, was traded to the Giants last year in the Odell Beckham Jr. deal.

The one-year extension would be guaranteed for injury only and the price for players selected outside of the top 10 (picks 11-32), which Engram and Peppers were, is the average of the third through 25th highest salaries at a player’s position.

“We’ll make the decisions this coming week, general manager Dave Gettleman said on Saturday. “With the craziness on and off the field so to speak over the last six weeks, we’ve had preliminary conversations. We’ll make those decisions pretty quick.”

The Giants are expected to exercise both player’s options, even though both are coming off season-ending injuries.

Engram underwent surgery to repair a Lisfanc ligament in December and was still in a walking boot at the end of February.

“I haven’t seen him,” said Gettleman. “None of us have been in the building in over a month. As far as I know, he’s doing fine. That’s all I know.”

The restrictions have also kept the Giants out of the loop on Peppers’ condition as well. He missed the last month of the 2019 season with a transverse process fracture in his back, but is expected to be in training camp and regain his starting safety role next to rookie Xavier McKinney this summer.

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Giants hold post-draft Zoom call: 13 things we learned

New York Giants GM Dave Gettleman and head coach Joe Judge held a post-2020 NFL Draft conference call and these are 13 things we learned.

The 2020 NFL Draft has officially come and gone, and the New York Giants ultimately stayed in place and used all 10 of their picks, including each of their four in Round 7.

The team was very specific and deliberate in their approach, focusing all of their attention on the offensive line, secondary and linebackers.

At the conclusion of the draft, general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Joe Judge held a video conference with reporters via Zoom. Here are 10 things we learned.

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Trades almost went down

As noted above, the Giants stood pat with all 10 of their picks, but a few trades almost went down. One of which came in Round 2, where the team had intended to trade down had safety Xavier McKinney not been available.

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2020 NFL Draft: Giants in key position as trade talks heat up

With the 2020 NFL Draft just over 48 hours away, trade rumors involving the New York Giants are beginning to heat up.

The New York Giants hold the No. 4 overall selection in this week’s NFL Draft and the talk of a possible trade — or trades — involving the Giants will be flying.

General manager Dave Gettleman told reporters last week that he was open to the idea of trading back, something has never done in his career.

“We’re sitting there with the fourth pick in the draft. It’s got to happen pretty soon,” Gettleman said. “I’m going to make calls and anybody that wants to move up I’m going to say, listen, we don’t have much time, we can’t fool around, and I’d like to get the parameters of deals in place, of the deal in place before we get on the clock. That would be the best thing. You know the NFL is going to have a mock draft on Monday, I’m sure you guys are aware of that. So, that’ll be an interesting thing to see how it works.

“Again, the biggest piece is making sure that we, meaning the Giants, are coordinated in how we’re going to approach the trade process. You know, we’ll have two veteran guys on it, so I think we’ll be fine. Obviously once you hit the third round you only have five minutes. It’s going to be tight to try to do that, to try to trade back or trade up. I think what’s going to happen, what this is going to force everybody to do, is do deals before their pick is up. So, let’s say for the sake of discussion, someone calls, one team calls another team and says, ‘I want to trade up.’ They’ll make a deal off the clock and then if the guy is there for the team that wants to move up, then they’ll consummate the trade. So, I think a lot of it’s going to be done ahead of time.”

Not necessarily. It’s already Tuesday. Round 1 is just over 48 hours away and there’s been no movement at the top of the draft order. Many teams like to hold their cards as close to their vests as long as they can to assure themselves of getting the best — and right — deal for their teams.

The Giants are believed to be leaning towards taking one of the four top offensive tackles in the draft. The issue is, none them are Top 5 talents. There are several teams seeking quarterbacks (Miami, who holds the 5th pick and the L.A. Chargers, who have No. 6) and might be willing to trade up the one or two spots to ace out the other for the quarterback (Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert of Oregon) they prefer.

Other teams are antsy for one of the three defensive studs (Auburn DT Derrick Brown, Ohio State CB Jeff Okudah, Clemson LB Isaiah Simmons) that will likely be sitting there at No. 4. And Gettleman will be listening.

The Atlanta Falcons, who have the No 16 pick are rumored to be seeking a trade up. The Carolina Panthers, at No. 7, may want to make a deal as well. The sudden retirement of linebacker Luke Kuechly has left a major void in their defense and may be gunning for Simmons.

The Giants, if they make any deals with the fourth pick, would ideally want to stay in the top half of the first round plus gain two other picks in the Top 100. They currently have only three selections in the top 100 and none between picks 36 and 99. That is where many of the best players in this draft will be selected and Gettleman would want a pick of two in that range.

There is an unsubstantiated rumor the San Francisco 49ers are interested in trading for Giants tight end Evan Engram, but there doesn’t seem to be any fire under that smoke.

The 49ers have two first-round picks (No. 13 and 31), but do not have a pick in the second, third or fourth rounds in this draft. Engram is not worth a first round pick nor is he going to be dealt for a late Day 3 pick. With Gettleman pretty much on the hot seat, he likely isn’t interested in trading for 2021 selections.

Engram is expected to be inked to his fifth-year option this spring that will make him a Giant for this year and next. That makes him more of an attractive trade piece but San Francisco simply doesn’t have what the Giants need.

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Report: Giants did not consider dumping Evan Engram

Despite rampant trade speculation, the New York Giants never considered trading or giving up on tight end Evan Engram.

Earlier in the offseason, rumors and speculation were running rampant and there was a belief that the New York Giants may considering trying to unload tight end Evan Engram via trade.

That did not happen, but not because there was a lacking market for Engram. It didn’t happen because, as Paul Schwartz of the New York Post reports, there was never any actual consideration given to dumping the tight end.

Evan Engram is returning for a fourth season with the Giants, and no, the new coaching regime did not consider dumping him. There is no doubt Engram is a polarizing player to Giants fans. His skill-set is enthralling, but his inability to stay on the field is frustrating. We get it. But he comes cheaply this year ($1.9 million in base salary), and he has loads of talent.

Although the Giants never wavered on keeping Engram in the mix here in 2020, his future beyond that is murky at best. The team is in love with his athletic ability, but Engram’s inability to stay healthy has made him unreliable and inconsistent.

Needless to say, Engram’s career trajectory has reached a defining moment. The Giants have a decision on his fifth-year option coming up, but whether they pick it up or decline it, Engram’s future will be determined by what he does in 2020.

The Giants clearly have some faith that he’ll be able to put it all together, but Engram’s leash is now much shorter and the clock is ticking on his ability to prove his worth.

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Giants’ Evan Engram: Rhett Ellison ‘the best teammate I ever had’

New York Giants TE Evan Engram says Rhett Ellison was the best teammate he ever had, likening him to a walking teaching tape.

The New York Giants will miss tight end Rhett Ellison not just on the field, but off it as well. Ellison, who retired on Monday, was a team-first player who was always willing to sacrifice for his teammates.

Ellison also served as mentor to the younger players in the tight end room such as Evan Engram, the Giants’ future at the position.

“He’s definitely the best teammate I ever had,” Engram said in a team release. “Rhett not only helped me with so many things on the field, but helped me off the field, too. I’m going to miss him. He’s definitely going to be a friend of mine for life.”

Ellison was one of the more studious veterans and made a point of knowing the playbook front to back. He was the go-to guy for many of the young players still learning the pro game.

“He’s like a walking teach tape,” said Engram. “You can pull up any play that he’s on and that’s exactly how the play is supposed to be done whether it’s a route, whether it’s a certain blocking technique we have to execute. He’s a really good professional, he’s a really good technician. He’s a perfect example to learn from.”

The 31-year-old Ellison played for the Giants for three seasons (2017-19) coming over from the Minnesota Vikings where he played for five years after being selected in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft out of USC.

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Do Giants lack trust in Evan Engram, view him as a trade piece?

The New York Giants reportedly lack trust in Evan Engram’s ability to stay healthy and may look to trade him this offseason.

New York Giants tight end Evan Engram is a dynamic play-maker who has worked hard to improve some of the weaker areas of his game in recent years, but one thing continues to plague the 25-year-old: injuries.

The oft-injured Engram has seen his time on the field decrease in each of his first three NFL seasons, appearing in just eight games a season ago as the result of a foot injury that eventually required surgery. The tight end remains in a boot and isn’t expect back until training camp in July.

In 2018, Engram missed five games due to injury and as a rookie, missed a Week 17 game against the Washington Redskins with a hamstring issue.

All told, Engram has missed a combined 14 games over his first three seasons, and that does not include all the time he’s missed during minicamps and training camps.

Because of Engram’s persistent injury issues, the team’s confidence in him is apparently waning.

Matthew Berry of ESPN reports that the Giants lack faith in Engram’s ability to stay on the field and as a result, may work to trade him this offseason.

An inside source says the Giants don’t believe Evan Engram can ever stay healthy. The source believes Engram is a candidate to be traded during the upcoming season.

If Berry’s report is accurate, the question becomes: what could the Giants get for a young and talented tight end who simply can not stay on the field and has provided absolutely no reason to trust that he can remain healthy?

The answer is, probably not much.

Engram is entering the final guaranteed year of his rookie contract, but has a fifth-year option for 2021. The Giants have until May 30 to decide whether or not they want to pick that up, which is a decision that could impact the tight end’s trade value — especially if said option is not picked up prior to the 2020 NFL Draft.

If the Giants decline Engram’s fifth-year option, any potential trade would either have to be a sign-and-trade or one made knowing Engram will merely serve as a potential one-year rental.

In the event the Giants do pick up the option, teams would feel more secure in knowing that they get two seasons out of Engram before having to made a decision on a new contract. It would also provide Engram the opportunity to prove he can remain healthy and provide consistent value on the field.

Ultimately, whether that option is picked up or not, Engram’s value isn’t what it once was. General manager Dave Gettleman would likely be able to pick up a mid-to-late round pick and little else.

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Report: Giants’ Evan Engram remains in walking boot, out until training camp

New York Giants tight end Evan Engram (foot) is still in a walking boot and will remain sidelined until at least the start of training camp.

The New York Giants have a seemingly endless amount of concerns entering the 2020 season and they were hoping another positional issue would not crop up, but it has.

Expectations were that the Giants would head into free agency with their depth at tight end set, but instead, they may have to worry about addressing that position as well.

Veteran Rhett Ellison is reportedly considering retirement after concussion issues plagued him in 2019, while the team recently released Scott Simonson and Isaiah Searight in what were essentially paperwork moves (Simonson recently explained).

That leaves Evan Engram, Kaden Smith and Garrett Dickerson as the remaining depth, and the news surrounding Engram is not exactly promising.

Engram was placed on season-ending injured reserve in mid-December with a foot injury that had previously kept him out for over a month, and later underwent surgery.

Nearly three months later, Engram is still in a walking boot and is not expected to return to the field until at least training camp, reports the New York Post.

Engram remains in a walking boot after his late December foot surgery. He is one of the NFL’s best receiving tight ends when healthy but has missed 14 games due to injury in his three-year career.

The Giants must decide by May whether to pick up Engram’s fifth-year contract option for 2021. He is expected to be sidelined until training camp.

As talented and dynamic as Engram may be, his inability to stay healthy and on the field depletes his value. He’s inconsistent and unreliable as the result of his injury history, and that may be why the Giants are so keen on Kaden Smith. It may also be why they choose to address the tight end position this offseason, be it through the draft or free agency.

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