Evan Engram

Engram is a talented receiver, and he landed in an ascending offense. That should keep him fantasy relevant and challenging for the top 12 among fantasy TEs for as long as he’s in Jacksonville.

That said, he wasn’t quite as helpful to fantasy teams overall last season as his TE5 finish might indicate. With targets likely to be spread around again in Jacksonville, Engram makes for merely an OK draft selection in low-TE1 range.

What We Learned Last YearTurns out Engram can still play after all.He spent his age-28 season ranking third among Jaguars in targets, catches, yards, and TDs.He finished fifth among TEs in PPR points, fifth in targets, fourth in receptions, fourth in yards, and tied for 11th in TDs.Engram ranked 12th in yards per route among 32 TEs with 40+ targets. He ranked third among Jaguars in Pro Football Focus receiving grade, trailing Christian Kirk but ahead of Zay Jones.Engram saw a career high in opportunities out wide, lining up there on 23.3% of his pass snaps, according to PFF. That went well above his career rate of 14.8%.Engram’s slot rate dipped to 41.6% from a career high of 69.5% in 2021. But last year’s number fell more in line with his career rate (43.6%).He delivered five top-6 PPR finishes over 17 games, with four of those coming after the Week 11 bye.Engram added three other top-12 weeks. He finished outside the top 24 seven times, including five weeks outside the top 36.Engram’s 11-162-2 receiving line in the Week 14 win at Tennessee accounted for:22.4% of his total PPR points15.1% of his receptions21.1% of his yards50% of his TDsHe finished 14th among TEs in target share.
What to Expect in 2023It’s easy to look back fondly on Engram’s 2022 and view him as a clear TE1 option for this season. But he ranked just 16th at the position in total PPR points when Jacksonville hit their Week 11 bye last year. From Week 12 on, only George Kittle outscored him.Of course, you can’t discount either stretch. He’s the player that achieved both.This season adds target competition in WR Calvin Ridley. The Jaguars, though, ranked just 18th in the league last year in running 3-WR sets on first down (54% of plays). That positions Ridley as much more of a direct challenge to Christian Kirk and Zay Jones than to Engram.There’s also room for Jacksonville to throw a little more. The Jags ranked 13th in neutral-situation pass rate for the season last year; 10th over the second half of the year, when QB Trevor Lawrence also improved his play.The Jaguars used the franchise tag to keep Engram from hitting the market this offseason. There’s no longer-term extension yet, but they clearly got what they were hoping and want Engram to remain a key passing-game piece.Injuries hampered the former first-round pick over his time with the Giants. But he played in every game last season for the second time in the past three years. Engram missed just two regular-season contests over that span. His average target depth doesn’t rate well, even among TEs. And it doesn’t seem likely to grow. PFF has his career mark at just 6.8, which would have ranked 25th last year among 32 TEs with 40+ targets.

Engram was slapped with the franchise tag and will be back with the Jaguars after finishing a career-best fifth among TEs in fantasy points in 2022. The 2017 first-round pick was top five at the position in snaps, routes, targets, receptions and receiving yards, but was limited to four TDs -- his most since he scored six as a rookie. Engram did run a bit cold at times, as 48.5% of his 177 fantasy points were scored in a four-game stretch (Weeks 13-16). He was fantasy's No. 1 TE in those weeks, but 25th (42-399-1 receiving line) in the other 13 weeks. The 29-year-old is a candidate for a slightly reduced role with Calvin Ridley now in the mix, but Engram was tagged for a reason and will sustain a solid target share in an ascending Jaguars offense. He's a back-end TE1.