Evan Engram could have been in the NFL by now. Ole Miss’ smooth tight end had already shown NFL eyes what he could do in his first three years in Oxford.
What he has done in the first five games of his senior season is eye-popping. Engram leads the SEC in receiving with 479 yards. He is third with 30 catches, and if it was a stat, he would likely be first in absurd catches.
Engram is producing those types of numbers on a team loaded with wide receiver talent.
“I really think, we all know and we have seen him, but I think it is the play of those other guys. Damore’ea Stringfellow, Quincy Adeboyejo, DaMarkus Lodge,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said following Saturday’s win over Memphis. “What are you going to do? The only way you can bracket him is if you put a linebacker and safety inside out on him, but that means someone is one-on-one.”
Freeze wasn’t taking any credit away from Engram. He was stating facts. Ole Miss is second in the conference in passing offense with 333.4 yards per game. The Rebels lead the conference in plays of 25 yards or more with 19 and are tied atop the SEC with Missouri with 42 plays of 15 yards or more.
Against Memphis, Engram had 4 catches for 82 yards, one of them a key third-quarter touchdown to kill Memphis’ comeback momentum. He had 100-yard games against Florida State and Alabama and is on pace to shatter his personal bests.
He is 183 yards shy of a career mark and eight catches away from tying his 38 as a sophomore and junior.
“And give Evan some credit. He is very talented,” Freeze said. “That is why we are having such success in recruiting. We spread it around. That is one of the things that we show people. If you have better people around you or on the other side of the field or inside, you are going to get a lot more chances to get open. I think it is a combination of him being talented and our other guys playing well.”
It is also a combination of sure hands, clutch catches and an ability to make tacklers miss. He is big play on one throw and big blocker on the next. He’s one of only two tight ends in the SEC’s top 30 in receiving yards per game (along with South Carolina’s Hayden Hurst) and is tied for 17th in the country in receiving.
Engram doesn’t have the Rob Gronkowski build. He is 6-foot-3, 235 pounds. As far as the NFL is concerned, he won’t fit into many typical tight end spots. But his talent combined with his production and selfless approach should make him a lot of money in April.
While fellow senior tight ends Jake Butt and O.J. Howard remain on the first round of early mocks, Engram is putting up the best numbers of any tight end in the country. If he was worried about the NFL, he could have already been there.
