New York Giants tight end Evan Engram had quite a short, yet eventful week.
After hauling in a touchdown reception in their Monday-night loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and remaining with the Giants through the trade deadline, the 27-year-old provided the offensive highlight of Week 9 for Big Blue in their upset 23-16 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
On their opening drive, Engram climbed over the back of Raiders safety Jonathan Abram to win a jump ball down the right sideline from quarterback Daniel Jones for a 30-yard touchdown reception — his second in as many games.
It was a reminder of the playmaking abilities that Engram can bring to the position, though they’ve come few and far between in recent years.
Earlier this season, Giants fans at MetLife Stadium sarcastically cheered as Engram was pulled from a loss against the Atlanta Falcons after fumbling earlier in that Sept. 26 loss. On Sunday, they were on their feet for the right reasons.
“It was cool, yeah,” Engram said of his big moment on Sunday. “Mainly, it really felt good just making a play for the team. We worked that play a lot this week and for it to come down and cash in, that was big. So it felt good.”
Engram’s name hasn’t been called nearly as much in recent years — whether that has to do with his struggles finding consistency in years past or the acquisition of veteran Kyle Rudolph to the tight-end ranks. But the lighter workload seems to be benefitting the Ole Miss product.
In seven games this season, Engram has caught 26 of 36 targets for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns — already double the amount he had last season. His catch rate of 72.2% is a career-best so far.
With just a single drop this season, his drop rate of 2.8% is also a career-best. It’s a significant step forward compared to last year when he dropped 11 passes amidst his 109 targets (10.1% drop rate).
