One of the most under-the-radar players over the last two NFL seasons has been New York Giants tight end Evan Engram, who was drafted by the Giants in the first round back in 2017.
He had a big rookie year, hauling in 64 receptions for 722 yards and six touchdowns. Then, this past season, he was limited to just 11 games due to injury, but still managed to catch 45 passes for 577 yards and three scores.
Engram is certainly a breakout candidate for 2019, but the question is, how sure should Fantasy Football owners be about potentially using a high draft pick on him?
Well, here is something we need to keep in mind: Odell Beckham Jr. is no longer in the picture for the Giants, which should open up more opportunities for Engram next season.
Remember: Engram was very productive during his rookie year, and some of that had to do with the fact that Beckham only played in four games due to a broken ankle.
With Beckham now gone for good, Engram could end up becoming one of the top two targets in New York's passing game.
As for who he will be competing with? The Giants did sign Golden Tate to “replace” Beckham, and Sterling Shepherd is still around, but neither is a dominant No. 1 receiver who will absorb most of the touches and the targets in the passing game.
That means Engram, a physically gifted tight end who actually ran a faster 40-yard dash time (4.42 seconds) than Beckham (4.43 seconds) at the Scouting Combine, could be in for a big year.
Now, there are some caveats here.
First and foremost, we have to consider the fact that the Giants' offensive line is not very good, which could end up severely limiting Eli Manning. Not only that, but there is a chance that New York tuns the offense over to rookie quarterback Daniel Jones at some point in 2019, which could put a bit of a cap on the Giants' passing game.
Second, running back Saquon Barkley will unquestionably be the focal point of the Giants' offense, and he himself might end up catching around 100 balls this coming year.
Those two things do make Engram a bit of a risky pick in the higher rounds, as we really have no idea how New York's offense is going to look.
One thing we do know is that Engram should be just fine without Beckham attracting the attention of other defenders, because he was terrific in 12 games without Odell back in 2017.
So, could Engram be a 1,000-yard tight end in 2019? That might be going a bit too far, but if he ends up catching 70 passes for over 800 yards and somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 touchdowns, it would not be the least bit surprising.
Obviously, George Kittle and Travis Kelce are going to be two of the first tight ends off the board, and you also have guys like Zach Ertz, Delanie Walker, and David Njoku who will get a lot of attention in fantasy drafts, which could make Engram a big-time sleeper.
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