The New York Giants‘ offense is primed for a breakout season in 2020. After two years with head coach Pat Shurmur running the offense, New York is taking a different approach in 2020. The Gmen hired Joe Judge as their next head coach and he assembled a phenomenal coaching staff. Judge made a splash on offense, hiring former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett as the team’s next offensive coordinator.
Jason Garrett’s scheme emphasizes the usage of the tight end position. Considering this, if Evan Engram can stay healthy in 2020, he should be in for a breakout season.
Evan Engram’s Health Questions
New York Giants tight end Evan Engram is entering his fourth season in the NFL. The controversial receiving-threat has seen his total number of games played decrease every year. Engram receives plenty of criticism for this.
Many fans criticize Evan Engram for not being able to stay healthy. Evan is a former first-round pick, so the bar of expectations is set pretty high. Part of the expectations includes playing more games than not, and, ideally, playing all sixteen games in a season. Engram has yet to accomplish this.
Evan played in 15 games as a rookie and was dominant, totaling 722 yards and 6 touchdowns. Since then, Engram has not looked the same. In 2018 he saw his number of games played decrease to a total of 11 games. Then, Evan Engram hit a real low point in 2019, playing in 8 games and starting only 6 of them.
Entering his fourth season, what evidence is there that Engram will be able to play a full season? Believe it or not, he might benefit from the impact that coronavirus has had on the NFL’s offseason. COVID-19 has halted life as we know it and could be allowing Engram extra leisure time to rest and heal his foot injury.
Why 2020 Will Be Engram’s Best Season
As long as he can stay healthy, Evan Engram will have his best season in 2020. This offense is set up perfectly for his success. Daniel Jones is entering his second season and will need his best playmakers available to help him take that sophomore leap. Engram will be a big part of that.
Jason Garrett loves to scheme the offense around the tight end position. Giants fans should know this better than anyone, after watching Jason Witten tear our defense apart for over a decade. Hopefully, Garrett can utilize Engram in a similar fashion and make him a staple in the Giants’ offense. Witten once received 147 targets in a season, so maybe an increased number of targets will lead to increased efficiency and production from Evan Engram in his fourth season.
Lance Meadow of Giants.com explained it this way:
“Last season, Evan Engram was on pace for a career year. Through the first five games, he accumulated 33 receptions, 373 yards, and two touchdowns… When you look at the Cowboys offense during Jason Garrett’s tenure, the tight end position played a prominent role in the passing game. Just look at Jason Witten’s production.” – Lance Meadow via Giants.com
Lance also made an excellent point regarding Blake Jarwin’s efficiency in Garrett’s offense:
“While Witten’s stats certainly jump off the page, the same can be said for Blake Jarwin, who is more comparable to Engram in terms of build and athleticism. With Witten taking a backseat to Jarwin in each of the last two seasons, the latter emerged as a notable playmaker with his targets, receptions and receiving yards increasing from 2018 to 2019. Jarwin’s usage and emergence is an encouraging sign for Engram.” – Lance Meadow via Giants.com
All Evan Engram has to do is stay healthy. If he can do that, under Jason Garrett in 2020, he can breakout and become one of the best tight ends in the NFL.