Tight end has been an area of need for the Jacksonville Jaguars in recent years but the team’s brass expect Evan Engram to give the unit a boost in 2022. A first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the former Ole Miss Rebel spent his first five seasons with the New York Giants. He signed a one-year deal worth $9 million with the Jags earlier this year and should step into the No. 1 tight end role from Day 1.
During an appearance in the team’s O-Zone podcast, Engram said a “chance to flourish in Pederson’s system” was a big reason he joined the Jags.
"It’s a bet on myself… I saw the situation. I saw Doug and the staff he had put together and the history he has had with tight ends. Tight ends like myself have been successful in his system."
Engram is right when he said he bet on himself. If he becomes the dynamic weapon Jacksonville expects, he will earn a long-term deal, from the Jaguars or someone else, next offseason. With that in mind, here are three realistic expectations for the tight end in 2022.
3. Evan Engram should score 6 touchdowns for the Jaguars in 2022
The Jaguars have gotten poor production from their tight end room in recent years. Last season, they got a measly two touchdowns from the position, one from Chris Manhertz and the other from Jacob Hollister. The year before wasn’t much better, with Tyler Eifert scoring two touchdowns.
Evan Engram isn’t a scoring machine but he’s previously shown he can be an effective weapon if used correctly. Back in 2017, he had a solid six touchdowns but has had a combined 10 in the last four years. If he can earn the trust of the coaching staff and cut down on the number of drops, he should see plenty of time in red-zone packages, which will in turn increase his chances to score. Scoring six or seven touchdowns doesn’t seem too farfetched.
2. Evan Engram will catch 55 receptions with the Jaguars
Tight ends can be nightmare matchups for defenses. Just ask those players that are tasked with covering the likes of Travis Kelce, George Kittle, and Rob Gronkowski when he was in his prime. Even Engram isn’t quite at that level but he can become a key contributor on the Jaguars’ offense.
Based on the contract he signed earlier this year, Engram will have a feature role in Jacksonville. Dan Arnold became the number one tight end when the Jags traded for him but if they wanted him to keep that role, they wouldn’t have brought Engram in. Having said that, he will still get plenty of targets, not as many as Engram but he will have his fair share. Engram played 74 percent of the Giants’ offensive snaps last year and 83 percent in 2020. Knowing Arnold will also get playing time, 75 percent seems reasonable.
But even if Engram is on the football field for three quarters of the game, he won’t post big numbers and that’s because of how stacked Jacksonville is at wide receiver. Christian Kirk and Zay Jones were also signed in free agency and both of them will have starting roles. On top of that, Marvin Jones Jr. and Laviska Shenault Jr. will get several targets his way, and with only a limited amount of passes to go around, Engram will have a hard time topping 60 receptions. On the other hand, hauling in 55 seems attainable for the tight end.
1. Evan Engram will total 600 yards for the Jaguars in 2022
So Evan Engram will get 55 catches and six touchdowns but how about receiving yards? 600 is a good number, one that he can achieve if he averages 10. 9 yards per reception in 2022. The tight end averaged 8.9 yards per reception, a career-low, last year. In 2020, he had an average of 10.4 yards per grab and 10.6 the season before. But in his first two seasons, he averaged more than 11 years per reception, 12. 8 in 2018.
While it’s hard to envision Engram getting 12 yards every time he catches a ball, 10.9 seems attainable. Trevor Lawrence struggled at times last year but he was a rookie and he should improve significantly under head coach Doug Pederson in Year 2. If the sophomore quarterback does get better, all Jaguars’ skill-position players will benefit.
In his rookie campaign, Lawrence showed he can make all kinds of throws and has the arm strength to stretch the field. The coaching staff won’t have Engram running vertical routes but he should get many opportunities in underneath passes, which could lead to an uptick in his average per catch.
To recap, Engram will haul in 55 receptions for 600 yards with six touchdowns in 2022. While those numbers don’t pop off the stat sheet, the Jaguars haven’t gotten that kind of production from the tight end position in a while. If you add Arnold’s production, Jacksonville is poised to have a solid tight end duo this upcoming season.