Early NFL Draft Look: Evan Engram, TE/WR, Ole Miss
We still have a couple of months before the college football season starts, so we have plenty of time to watch great up-coming NFL Draft prospects like Evan Engram, a pre-season All-American tight end/h-back/receiver out of Ole Miss.
Engram is a player I’ve been reading up on this offseason as one of the best playmakers at tight end in the country. When I was reading up on this 6-3, 230 pound tight end, I fully expected to see a big wide receiver who was too slow to play the position lined up at tight end to simply get him on the field and be productive in creating mismatches.
I got a big surprise.
Engram has only five touchdowns in his college career thus far, but the soon-to-be junior has come up just short of a number of others, and appears to be on track to be one of the highest drafted players at his position next season.
I came away from watching Engram incredibly impressed. Here are the two games I was able to watch on Draft Breakdown.
Observations
- Engram is a phenomenal receiver, obviously. He has such strong hands to pluck the ball away from his body and he does it with enough regularity that you can tell it’s second nature at this point. One thing that I always look for in college receivers is whether or not it’s still natural for them to let the ball get into their body when they catch it. For Engram, it’s abnormal to see anything but fully extended arms plucking the ball out of the air.
- One thing that I was pleasantly surprised by in this quick film study was the blocking ability he has. Engram took great angles, and made it to the second and third level of the defense where he was able to seal defenders and drive people off of a spot. I didn’t expect to see that kind of effort in the running game from this type of player.
- He plays all over the formation, and for good reason. No one can really cover him. He’s too big and too strong for corners, and too fast for linebackers and safeties.
- Smooth route runner who has pretty seasoned technique in and out of his breaks. Knows how to get open.
- Best at running with the ball in his hands. Makes sharp cuts and for his size, has phenomenal agility. Hard to tackle. Good speed in the open field.
- Going to be a red zone nightmare.
- Did a great job adjusting to poor quarterback play from Bo Wallace. Made some really tough catches.
Overall Thoughts
This is a player who deserves the pre-season accolades, and someone who is going to light it up again in 2015. He could see double digit touchdowns this season after averaging over 17 yards per catch a year ago. He’s such phenomenal athlete and a treat to watch play.