With the 23rd pick in the 2017 NFL Draft the New York Giants select...Evan Engram, tight end, Ole Miss:
Evan Engram was a great player that I thought would be an early to mid second round player. I didn't know much about Engram until draft night. When the Giants selected him over tight end David Njoku who the team had raved about, I was surprised. I didn't know why the Giants would take a potential second rounder with their first round pick. Lately I have understood why. Engram looks like a monster. Njoku will be decent as he was selected later in the first round by the Browns and the first tight end off the board, O.J. Howard will also be good, but I now think Engram will be THE best out of the 3 first round tight ends. Lets first talk about Engram's body type.Most tight ends are big bruisers that look like they are more buff O-lineman. If I didn't know, I would have thought Engram was a receiver. He is a big dude but he is as skinny as an average NFL receiver. He is fast but still plays like a tight end. This un-average body of Engram could be what sets him apart from average tight ends, and the greats. The greats of NFL tight ends this season for me include Rob Gronkowski (Patriots), Jimmy Graham (Seahawks), and Travis Kelce (Chiefs). Thats only 3 guys. After this year, there could be 4 which includes Engram. All of those guys are big bodied guys. Engram is skinny. Lets next talk about what he's been doing in the Giants first weeks of Organized Team Activities.
The whole Giants team has been raving about Engram. Every day that I check social sports media or NFL.com I always see some new report about how Evan Engram has been amazing during OTAs. He's reportedly been matching up with last year Defensive Player of the Year candidate Landon Collins in practice. Thats a gutty thing to do when you are a rookie. Pretty much every report about Engram in his early Giants days has been great. Also according to another report, Engram is running routes as well as the teams receivers. Lets think about that. The team has Odell Beckham, Brandon Marshall, and Sterling Shepard. All amazing receivers. Thats a big deal for him to be running routes as well as they are. Players say he has great hands and great seperation. The early reports on Engram are GREAT! Another thing that blows my mind is that he is as fast as a receiver. Lets next talk about his college stats.
This year in college Engram really turned heads. He became a well known tight end in college football in just one year. 926 yards and 8 TDs. Thats pretty good for a college football tight end. In college tight ends don't get the ball as much and so for such a different tight end to get great stats like that its eye opening. Now looking back on the draft, it makes clear sense why the Giants picked him over David Njoku and possibly OJ Howard if they could have. Engram still has a lot of work to do but it looks as if he will be the teams starting tight end and will have a good shot at rookie of the year!
Thanks for reading!
Photo Cred: profootballfocus.com, Newsday
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