Evan Engram is the lone bright spot in the Giants’ dismal 2017 season

There aren’t many reasons to watch the Giants in 2017. Odell Beckham Jr. is done for the year with a broken leg. Eli Manning is currently more of a heated Hall of Fame debate than an actual quarterback at this point in his career. The New York defense seemed to just give up while allowing the Rams to drop 51 points on it at home.

But then there’s Evan Engram.

The rangy tight end has rewarded the faith that made him the 23rd pick of the 2017 NFL draft. The 6’3 mismatch machine has been Manning’s favorite end-zone target with touchdowns in each of his last three games. Engram has found paydirt four times this fall — no other Giant aside from OBJ has scored more than once.

In the last three weeks, Engram has been targeted 29 times. His next closest teammate, Tavarres King, has had only 12 passes thrown his way in that span. With an understaffed run game struggling and injuries keeping players like Beckham, Brandon Marshall, and, for a while, Sterling Shepard out of the lineup, Engram is New York’s most important offensive player — albeit on the league’s 28th-ranked scoring offense.

Engram excels at creating space near the line of scrimmage, then using his 4.4-second, 40-yard dash speed to turn short gains into first downs. Against Seattle in Week 7, he had six receptions, including a 5-yard touchdown catch. He turned those into 60 receiving yards thanks to his ability to straight-up outrun the linebackers — and safeties — futilely tasked with covering him:

New York is keeping Engram’s route tree simple and allowing him to use the mismatches he creates to dictate the impact he has on the game. That won’t always work — the Chargers held him without a reception back in Week 5 — but it’s been pretty successful so far.

That doesn’t mean you can sit on his short routes, because Engram has the speed to torch defenders turning upfield:

And he has the hands to finish plays, especially in the red zone:

Engram brings a lot of mismatches for opposing defenses, but the traits that make him special are also ones that can be exploited. At just 236 pounds, the rookie doesn’t provide the blocking support of a traditional tight end. While the Giants have run the ball with their hybrid receiver/end in the lineup, Engram is the kind of player who tips the team’s hand when he jogs to the line of scrimmage.

If he’s on the field, opponents are going to turn more and more toward the nickel and dime packages that ensure he’s covered by a defensive back and not a traditional front seven member.

He’s been a beast in the red zone, but he’s also not the kind of traditional post-up target who can bail out his quarterback by boxing out defenders as the ball comes. He’s gotten better at those quick-hook and stop routes in the pros, but his route tree is still limited — so it’s yet to be seen if a team’s top cover corner can keep him off the books.

That’s a matchup likely waiting in the wings, as the young tight end has emerged as his team’s top target thanks to a depleted Giants receiving corps.

At 1-7, New York head coach Ben McAdoo told reporters he’d use the rest of his season to work out new players at every position — even at quarterback. There are two spots he won’t have to worry about if he returns in 2018: his top wideout and whatever you want to call the not-quite-a-tight-end position Engram is filling. The rookie has been forced to step up as injuries ravaged the New York roster, and he’s continued to step up despite increased defensive focus the past few weeks.

While he’s still growing as a player, his physical talents have already shown he’s a solid complementary piece even if he’s just running drag routes and quick outs near the line of scrimmage. Once Beckham returns, he’ll bring an over-the-top downfield threat that can clear out the middle of the field for the athletic Engram to shine. That’s the kind of deep-short combination that can be lethal against NFL opponents.

The problem for the Giants is finding the right pieces to build around them. Manning is 36 years old, and while his contract essentially locks him in with the franchise for one more season, New York can move on from him in 2019 while eating $6.2 million in dead cap space if he can’t get back on track with a healthy offense.

The bigger concern is upgrading a run defense that intimidates no one. Orleans Darkwa has been solid in limited duty this fall, but he’ll have to break out from the Andre Brown-Rashad Jennings-Andre Williams mold before proving he’s a full-time back. A Beckham-Engram pairing should be enough to spread the field and create running room for mediocre tailbacks, but New York’s running game the past four seasons fails to inspire optimism.

There’s plenty of work for the Giants to do before approaching a return to the postseason, and we haven’t even touched on their defensive woes. Even so, the franchise pulled a player who looks like an offensive cornerstone with its first-round pick last spring. That’s a start.