Get Engram the ball or trade him to someone who will

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jason Garrett told CBS’ broadcast team last Saturday that Evan Engram is the Giants’ “best playmaker on offense,” according to play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz.

Yet Eng ram had just one catch for 16 yards on two targets, two rushes for nine yards, and a 3-yard rushing touchdownin last week’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

The only kind of offense that uses its “best playmaker” that rarely is a bad offense.

Joe Judge got Engram what would have been a second touchdown on a fake field goal pass if not for a penalty on the play.

But Engram isa forgotten man on this offense despite being its most physically gifted skill player. In particular, he’s not being used downfield even when he does get the ball.

And Engram’s own frustration showed in his Zoom interview with local media this week.

The Giants’ tight end was down, visibly fatigued from all the losing and being in a third offense in his four pro seasons. Heimpliedthathis routes this year were designed to get him open horizontal ly, not vertically —“trying to usemyspeed, get across the field.”

When asked about the high amount of short curl and stop routes he’s running, Eng ram agreed :“Definitely, that’s probably the most different aspect to my route tree this season.”

Engram, 26, has his flaws as a player. He’s not a good blocker. He has a couple drops already again this season. He committed offensive pass interference tone gate a catch in Week1 against the Steelers.

But there is no secret what Engram does well: he can outrun people, especially downfield.

And if Garrett can’ t figure out how to use him, the Giants should know that the NFL trade deadline is Nov .3. And there are plenty of coordinators who would be able to turn Engram overnight from an after thought back into a dynamic weapon.

Engram’s average depth of target in Garrett’s offense is an absurdly short 4.48 yards downfield, per Pro Football Focus. That ranks 31st among NFL tight ends who have played at least 50% of their teams’ offensive snaps.

Engram, believe it or not, has the same amount of catches (18) as Baltimore’ s Mark Andrews. But Andrews leads all NFL tight ends with a 13.28yard average depth of target, and he therefore has 18 catches for 222 yards and five receiving TDs.

Engram has 147 receiving yards and zero receiving touchdowns. The near-total absence of explosive plays in Garrett’s offense is directly connected to its misuse of Engram.

The Giants have just two rush es of 20yards or longer, with a long of 26, after Saquon Barkley’s early struggles and season-ending injury. And they have just one pass completion longer than 40 yards: Darius Slayton’s 41-yard TD reception in Week 1.

Slayton(foot) is now questionable for Sunday’s game, as well, coming off an 8-catch, 129-yard performance at Dallas. So that adds to the importance of employing Engram on deeper routes.

“Just kind of really doing everything that’s in the game plan,” Engram said this week, seemingly resigned to his new role. “We work a lot of different things, try to get the ball going and try to get the pass gamegoing. Pretty much just kind of doing what I’m asked and what I’m asked to do in the offense.”

Injury report: The Giants have three players designated as questionable for Sunday’s game: Slayton (foot), DTDexter Lawrence (knee) and FS Adrian Colbert (shoulder). Colbert was a late addition to the week’s injury report on Friday. It would be a surprise if Slayton and Lawrence did not dress, but Judge left the door open to all possibilities for Slayton. “I’m expecting Darius to play,” the coach said. “If the trainers tell me otherwise, they tell me otherwise.” ... The Giants activated inside linebacker David Mayo from injured reserve and he is expected to play Sunday. He missed the first five games due to surgery for a torn meniscus.