Each year, I do a handful of articles on specific players that present value at ADP. Last year, we covered guys like Alvin Kamara, Josh Jacobs, and Chris Godwin. So far this year, we’ve hit on the upside case for Michael Pittman and how the new scheme in Seattle is perfect for Kenneth Walker. Now it’s time to go back to an old favorite of ours - Evan Engram.

Those who might follow my work know that we’ve done one of these in the past on Engram, in 2022 when he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. As you’ll see if you click that link, that article was dubbed Evan Engram - The Man, The Myth, The Legend. As it suggests, we covered the player himself, the myths about him, and the legendary upside. He then proceeded to obliterate his TE26 ADP to finish top 5. Then, in Doug Pederson’s scheme the following year, he had the second-most receptions a tight end has ever had. 

This year, we are once again revisiting Evan Engram as a fantasy football choice. The talent, scheme, and opportunity are once again lining up for this player, albeit in a new home. So let’s dive in once again and remind folks what the man is all about, what myths might be floating around, and what the legendary upside could be. 

 

 

 

2025 Fantasy Football Player Profile: Evan Engram

The Man

As we explained in the previous iteration of this article, Evan Engram is not your typical tight end. A prototypical tight end is usually over 6’5”, 250, and is built to line up inline with their hand in the dirt. That’s not Evan Engram. He’s built more like a wide receiver - and that’s where he should play. 

And, in that regard, he really should not be compared to tight ends - at least not athletically. There aren’t even many wide receivers to compare to him because the guys as big as him typically aren’t as fast, and the guys as fast as him are generally smaller. Someone as thick as AJ Brown at 226 pounds is close, though Engram was faster at his combine.

You’ll notice Andre Johnson listed as the best comparable player above for AJ Brown. Former stars Andre Johnson and Demaryius Thomas (rest in peace) are probably the best comparable athletes to Engram on paper.

When used correctly, a player like this can create tremendous mismatches. The Giants insisted on using Engram for in-line snaps at times, where he was overpowered and often injured. Doug Pederson, who had experience using Zach Ertz as a “big slot” player, correctly deployed Engram as a wide receiver once he got to Jacksonville. And Engram thrived in the scheme. If you take all the tight ends who have played at least a game in the NFL over the last three seasons, Evan Engram is top five in targets per game over that span.

Even last year, when the Jaguars had a down year and he dealt with injury, he was a reliable option in fantasy football when available. From Week 6 to Week 14, when he was fully healthy, he didn’t have a single game with fewer than 7 PPR points.  

 

 

 

The Myth

In the previous iteration of this article, we looked at the myths surrounding Engram’s struggles in New York. The drops, the injuries, the poor quarterback play. The new myth surrounding Engam is this idea that he was released by the Jaguars because he’s no longer a good player. And that couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

As we’ve discussed, Evan Engram isn’t a typical tight end. He’s best deployed out of the slot. Liam Coen’s offense, however, requires an inline “two-way” tight end. For that, you do need prototypical size. Look at how Coen deployed Cade Otton in Tampa Bay or Tyler Higbee when he was with the Rams. Zac Robinson, another tight end from the Sean McVay coaching tree, also prefers an inline tight end. He even had Charlie Woerner playing over Kyle Pitts down the stretch because of that.
 


With Kyle Pitts, Zac Robinson tried to play him out of position as an inline tight end early in the season so he could utilize the 11 personnel that the scheme calls for. Now, per reports, it seems they are going to attempt to use Pitts more as a wide receiver in 2025, despite him not really fitting the scheme there either. With Liam Coen and James Gladstone in Jacksonville, they knew that they were going to be deploying their best wide receiver, Brian Thomas, in the slot often, like he did with Chris Godwin in Tampa Bay and Cooper Kupp in Los Angeles. They have no need for a “big slot” tight end like Evan Engram or the traditional slot wide receiver Christian Kirk. So they moved on from them. And, despite it all making logical sense, the stigma of being released has the casual fantasy gamers down on Evan Engram. 

 

 

 

The Legend

Saying that Evan Engram landed on his feet would be an understatement. He not only landed a new starting job fairly quickly, but the Broncos also made him the highest-paid free-agent tight end of the offseason with a deal that is top 12 in AAV for the position per OverTheCap.com, and the scheme that Sean Payton and Joe Lombardi could not be more friendly for the tight end in fantasy football.

Historically, Sean Payton has used players that he likes to call “jokers”. The idea is that you take a unique player who can play “out of position” to create mismatches and give the defense headaches. As current Lions head coach Dan Campbell put it back when he was part of Sean Payton’s staff in New Orleans, the goal is to “put our best guy on your worst guy”. So they’d do things like motion Alvin Kamara into the slot to take advantage of matchups against linebackers. Or take tight end Jimmy Graham and have him split all the way out wide to see if he could beat smaller corners with his size. These were both jokers in his past systems.

Payton is seemingly taking all the things that worked best for him throughout the years. They just extended Courtland Sutton, who operates in the Michael Thomas role. They drafted rookie RJ Harvey to hopefully operate as the Alvin Kamara/Austin Ekeler type that Joe Lombardi has had success with. And Evan Engram is in town to play the Joker tight end role. How do we know that? Well, he told us himself.

 

 

 

Evan Engram in Fantasy Football in 2025


All this brings us to 2025. Fantasy Alarm’s Composite ADP has Evan Engram going off the board as the TE8 in the 7th round. But, depending on the platform you play on, he sometimes goes even later behind guys like David Njoku or the rookies in Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland. That means you can load up on WRs and RBs early and still find a reliable TE option in Evan Engram. Grab your copy of the Fantasy Alarm Draft Guide now to see where WE are ranking him!