Paul Bretl | 10/24/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Although the Jacksonville Jaguars sit at 2-5 on the season, the Packers are preparing for a dynamic offense with plenty of playmakers around quarterback Trevor Lawrence, including big-play tight end Evan Engram.
Engram returned from injury in Week 6 against the Chicago Bears. This was his first game since the Jaguars’ season opener against Miami. Immediately in Engram’s first game back, he seemingly picked up where he left off in 2023, as the focal point in the Jaguars passing game, totaling 10 receptions for 102 yards.
“Well, he’s a game changer,” said Matt LaFleur of Engram’s impact on the Jaguars’ offense, “cause you just don’t see too many tight ends with that speed. So, and he’s one of many. I just think it’s a pretty strong roster.”
Since arriving in Jacksonville in 2022, Engram’s production has sky-rocketed. In that first season with the Jaguars, Engram recorded what was then a season-high 890 receiving yards on 85 receptions with five touchdowns. The following season–2023–he set new career highs in receptions with 114 and yards with 963. He also scored four more touchdowns.
Among all tight ends during that 2023 season, Engram was top-three in targets, receptions and top-five in yards at the position.
A big part of what makes Engram such a difficult matchup for opposing defenses is that at 6-3 – 240 pounds, he ran a 4.42-second 40-yard dash coming out of Ole Miss in 2017. That is a rare combination of size and speed that you will see at the tight end position–so much so that Packers’ safety Xavier McKinney said Engram is really a receiver and not a tight end.
“He’s a hell of a player,” added McKinney. “He’s one of the most dynamic and special tight ends that I’ve personally went against and I got much respect for his game.”
With Engram’s speed, route running ability, and hands, the Jaguars move him around and will frequently treat him like a receiver to a degree, with only about one-third of his snaps coming as an in-line tight end during his two-plus seasons in Jacksonville. The other roughly 66 percent of his offensive snaps come either in the slot or out wide.
That type of dynamic ability packed into the tight end position can oftentimes prove to be a difficult matchup for offenses. That speed Engram possesses can often be problematic for linebackers, while his size can give him an advantage over cornerbacks.
He’s a receiver,” said McKinney of Engram. “He’s a big receiver. That’s kind of how we have to treat it and it gives them the ability to do different things and you can’t really count that as, like I said, you can’t really count him as a tight end because he doesn’t run like a tight end, he doesn’t run routes like a tight end and he can pretty much do everything a receiver can do. So it’s challenging defensively.”
With an average depth of target of only 5.0 yards in 2023, it’s not as if Engram was often stretching the field, but getting him those quick throws in space or where he has the matchup advantage allowed him to utilize his speed in the open field, where he was one of the best at picking up yards after the catch (YAC).
In recent weeks, tight ends who aren’t as fast as Engram have found some success against this Packers’ defense. The Rams’ Colby Parkinson led the team in receptions with seven against Green Bay and was targeted 13 times, totaling 52 yards. Another playmaking threat in Arizona’s Trey McBride had eight receptions for 96 yards–again leading the team–while Houston’s Dalton Schultz had a 28-yard catch and run versus the Packers.
Even with McBride’s performance, it’s not as if the Cardinals were able to consistently move the ball, and overall, it’s not as if the Packers have been shredded by the tight end position this season by any means. Through seven games, that position group is averaging about six receptions per game for 55 yards at 9.9 yards per catch. Not game-breaking numbers, but noteworthy.
The Packers’ defense has the physicality at cornerback, the speed at linebacker, and the range at safety to help mitigate the impact of the tight end position in the passing game–not to mention the versatility and blitz and coverage disguises utilized by Jeff Hafley haven’t made things easy on opposing quarterbacks. However, Engram and his speed will bring a different kind of challenge when it comes to accounting for the tight end as the game-plan is being constructed.
“They’ve got weapons in every phase of the game,” said LaFleur of the Jaguars offense. “They’ve got receivers that are explosive, the tight end is explosive. They’ve got two runners. They’ve got a franchise quarterback and then I think you look at the defense side of the ball and just their ability to get after the quarterback is, it’s real.”