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After coming to Ole Miss as an unheralded three-star recruit whose only other power five offer was from Wake Forest, Evan Engram leaves the Rebels as a three and a half year starter and looks to have an outside chance at being a first round draft pick.
The Recap
He’s now associated with the fellow players in Ole Miss’ 2013 signing class like Laremy Tunsil, Robert Nkemdiche, Laquon Treadwell and Tony Conner, but the fan expectations were understandably much lower when Engram showed up in Oxford. In the season opening game at Vanderbilt, Engram did not draw the start, but hauled in five catches for 61 yards in his first collegiate game. More success would come with touchdown catches against Texas and a fourth quarter, game-tying grab against Texas A&M.
2014 was Engram’s first as a full time starter and he led SEC tight ends with 662 receiving yards at 17.4 yards per catch. A trio of 100 yard SEC receiving games were highlighted by a 176 yard effort against (then number four) Mississippi State in the Rebels’ upset win in the Egg Bowl.
The 2015 season had less production for Engram with his yardage dropping nearly 200 yards to 464 yards with new quarterback Chad Kelly taking over for the departed Bo Wallace. The tight end’s best game from a numbers perspective came in the Sugar Bowl as he had a game-high 96 yards on 6 receptions.
For his senior season, Engram bounced back to rack up first team All-American honors from several selectors including SBNation, the AP, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and Athlon off the back of 926 yards, 65 catches and eight touchdowns. Despite the Rebels’ disappointing season, Engram turned in 95+ yard performances against six power five (five in SEC play along with 121 yards against Florida State) foes while missing the Mississippi State game due to injury.
The Breakdown
While he is more of a system tight end or flex slot receiver/h-back than a traditional blocking tight end, Engram’s potential to stretch the field was shown at the Combine as he put up a tight end best 40 yard dash time of 4.42 seconds, nearly a tenth of a second faster than OJ Howard and the third fastest tight end time since 2006. Engram’s agility was further on display as he also finished in the top three amongst tight ends in the 20 yard shuttle and three cone drill.
The Measurables
| Height | Weight | Arm Length | Hands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Height | Weight | Arm Length | Hands |
| 6'3” | 234 | 33 ½ | 10” |
| Event | 40 Yard Dash | Bench Press | Vertical | Broad Jump | 3 Cone | 20 Yard Shuttle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 40 Yard Dash | Bench Press | Vertical | Broad Jump | 3 Cone | 20 Yard Shuttle |
| 4.42 | 19 | 36 | 125 | 6.92 | 4.23 | |
| Position Rank | 1st | 9th | 5th | 6th | 2nd | 3rd |
The Projection
NFL draft experts list Jordan Reed as a comparable player, but Engram will likely need to be taken by the right team to be successful in the NFL. SBNation’s mock draft featured the Saints’ site Canal Street Chronicles picking Engram with the 32nd and last pick of the first round while the breakdown on nfl.com projects him to be a second or third round pick.