Evan Engram

Engram's fifth season with the Giants could be his last, as he'll play 2021 under the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. A first-round pick with 4.42 speed, Engram still hasn't matched his rookie-year totals of 722 yards and six TDs (from 115 targets, admittedly). At 6-3, 240, he's never been much of a blocker, and there's no question he was an all-around liability last season, dropping 11 passes (most among TEs) and producing only 6.0 YPT. Engram finished fourth among TEs in targets but 16th in fantasy points, perhaps limited by QB Daniels Jones' shortcomings in addition to his own. While Engram still figures to be the top receiving TE, he'll likely see fewer snaps and targets with Kyle Rudolph's arrival. That might be a blessing in disguise for Engram's career, but it limits his fantasy upside, even if his play improves. There's also the matter of a preseason ankle injury putting Engram in danger of missing Week 1, though it isn't expected to lead to a long-term absence.

Engram perpetually appears on the verge of a breakout, only to be set back by a slump or injury as soon as he gains our trust. It happened again last September when he piled up 277 yards and two touchdowns the first three weeks, before slumping through October and then suffering a major foot injury in November. Engram didn't play after Week 9, undergoing surgery in December to repair a Lisfranc ligament in his left foot. He should have time to recover before Week 1, but his offseason will revolve around rehab work after he spent the winter in a walking boot. Once he gets back on the field, Engram may find that a new coaching staff is more proactive putting his 4.42 speed to good use. Engram's 6.0 average depth of target last season placed 26th among qualified TEs, and that was actually a step up from his 5.0 aDOT the year before. Engram made it work, at least to an extent, with impressive YAC averages of 8.8 (2018) and 5.9 (2019), but it's hard to reach high-end TE1 territory when 80 percent of your targets come within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. The good news is that Pat Shurmur, Mike Shula and Eli Manning are gone, replaced by Joe Judge, Jason Garrett and Daniel Jones. The bad news is that we don't quite know if Jones is good, nor do we know if he'll prefer Engram to Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton, Golden Tate and Saquon Barkley.

Arbitrary endpoints aren't always reliable when it comes to player evaluation, but Engram's strong finish in 2018 was encouraging. He returned from a hamstring injury to play the final four games, topping 75 yards in each start. The touchdown count was fairly low - one in that sequence, just three on the year - but there weren't many survivors on the sinking Giants ship. You have to squint a bit to see Engram's growth last year, but it's there on the stat page. He bumped his YPC forward, raised his catch rate by nearly 15 percentage points and had a 43 percent bump in his yards per target. The shape of the roster presents pros and cons for Engram in Year 3. Odell Beckham Jr. is gone, which presents a major chunk of available targets even after the signing of Golden Tate, who may be suspended for all of September. The quarterback position could be a mess, featuring the last days of Eli Manning versus the uncharted waters of Daniel Jones. But given the brief moments of brilliance Engram showed the last two years, we're willing to take an open mind to his likely mid-round ADP.

We've long been programmed to ignore rookie tight ends for fantasy purposes. The position is too dynamic, too tricky, too complicated, and often it's tied to a lot of blocking and grunt work. Engram tore up that conventional wisdom, producing the seventh-best fantasy season in history by a rookie tight end. And most of those beating Engram did it before fantasy football was even a thing - only Rob Gronkowski (2010) outscored Engram since 1990. What the Giants stumbled onto with Engram, intentionally or not, is a matchup nightmare who's really just a jumbo-sized receiver at 6-3, 240, with 4.42 speed. Engram still struggles as a blocker and it might never become a strength of his game. If you want to dock Engram's potential because of Eli Manning's age and foibles, that's perfectly reasonable. And the Giants have a lot of competition in the passing game, needing to find targets for Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard and rookie running back Saquon Barkley. But there's a legitimate chance Engram is a generational talent, and it's also possible new coach Pat Shurmur - who will also call the plays - is a miracle worker on offense. Consider what Shurmur did with Nick Foles in 2013, or with Case Keenum last year. If you're not afraid to spend a primary pick on a tight end, Engram is someone you need to evaluate and consider.

Make no mistake, Engram's pass catching at Mississippi (not his blocking) pushed him into the first round of the NFL draft, with a 4.42 40 time boosting his cause. The Rebels deployed Engram at a number of positions -- tight end, H-back, slot receiver, outside receiver -- and his most common pre-draft comparison was Jordan Reed, an exciting player to be linked with. Even if Engram can get up to speed quickly -- and given all the hats the Giants would like him to wear, that seems like wishful thinking -- he'll have to deal with some Meadowlands gridlock. Odell Beckham Jr. is the key to the team's offense, Brandon Marshall was imported to fill a critical role and Sterling Shepard was useful as a rookie. The Giants wouldn't have selected Engram if they didn't see exciting down-the-road upside, but it's hard to envision a lot coming from him in Year 1.