Giants cannot demand much from top pick
EVAN Engram might turn out to have a fine career in the NFL, and if he lives up to his draft status, he’ll be a Giant for a long time. But don’t look for the first-round draft choice from Ole Miss to make much of an impact this season. There aren’t enough footballs to go around.
The Giants think they’ve got a “matchup nightmare” with the 6foot-3, 235-pound Engram, the 23rd pick Thursday on the opening day of the NFL draft. He is a wide receiver with a tight-end build, who ran 4.42 seconds in the 40. General manager Jerry Reese talked about Engram’s versatility and potential to stretch a defense.
“He can line up anywhere,” Reese said. “We can use him in the offense in a lot of different ways.”
Head coach Ben McAdoo, who must design plays for Engram, said his speed “jumps off the tape at you.”
Engram, who caught 15 touchdown passes at Ole Miss, certainly is confident in his ability to be productive in his rookie year.
“I know for a fact I can come in and make an immediate impact,” he said. “The Giants have been missing a piece like me.”
Yes, the Giants have been searching for a productive tight end for a while. Jeremy Shockey was the last tight end the Giants drafted in the first round (in 2002), and since his departure, the position has been filled with either veteran free agents or young players in need of development.
The selection of Engram and his hybrid skills might amount to overkill. The Giants already are loaded with down-the-field receivers with Brandon Marshall coming over from the Jets to team with Odell Beckham Jr. and Sterling Shepard, a second-round pick last year. They will be the primary targets this season. The Giants also have signed veteran tight end Rhett Ellison to a fouryear, $18 million contract.
While the Giants brass seemed genuinely excited to get someone with Engram’s skill set, they will have to figure out how to utilize him. They never have had a tight end with the kind of speed and athleticism Engram has, and fitting him into the offense figures to be a work in progress.
“We see him as a weapon, and we’ll take all the weapons we can get,” Reese said.
Truth is there isn’t much room on the Giants’ 2017 roster for a rookie to make a significant impact. It will be the players already on the roster who will determine whether they will con- tend for a Super Bowl.
Beckham, Shepard and Marshall will catch the bulk of the passes, while the offensive line — which includes tackle Ereck Flowers, guard John Jerry, center Weston Richburg and guard Justin Pugh — needs to raise its level of play next year to help an offense that was largely disappointing in 2016.
The defense, which was upgraded through free agency during the 2016 offseason, returns largely intact for another run. Losing Jonathan Hankins hurt, but defensive linemen Olivier Vernon and Damon Harrison should be comfortable entering their second seasons with the team, and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has to validate the four-year, $62 million contract he received in March.
The “NYPD” secondary will be looking to add to its laurels, and the Giants’ crew of linebackers, headed by Jonathan Casillas and Devon Kennard, should be bubbling with experience and confidence.
The Giants had a good draft last year, landing players who made an impact. Cornerback Eli Apple, the first-round pick, played in 14 games and made 11 starts, while Shepard caught 65 passes for 683 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Giants shouldn’t need or expect much help from Engram next year. The team’s improvement needs to come from within.