One of the most discouraging takeaways from the New York Giants’ 20-10 Thanksgiving loss to the Washington Redskins was Evan Engram’s play.
He was supposed to be the savior for the New York Giants after the injury bug hit hard. Instead, Evan Engram had three key drops on Thursday night that would have resulted in first downs for the Giants.
He finished the game with just three receptions for 18 yards. In the last two games, Engram has just four receptions for a grand total of 27 yards and zero touchdowns despite being targeted 13 times. In the four previous games, Engram had 21 receptions for 243 yards and scored a touchdown in each of the four games.
“I don’t know. I just got to be better,” Engram said to the media following the 20-10 loss. “There’s no excuses for it. I just got to make some plays, just got to be better.”
With Sterling Shepard missing the last two games due to a migraine, Eli Manning desperately needed Engram to step up and he failed to do so.
So it makes you wonder why there’s been such a huge drop off in production over the last two games.
Maybe it’s opposing defenses keying in on him since he’s clearly Manning’s go-to guy with Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall out for the year. Or maybe it’s the fact that he’s hit the dreaded rookie wall.
It’s not uncommon for players to begin to fade towards the end of their rookie season. After all, the NFL season is longer and much more physical than college.
Last year at Ole Miss he played in 12 games and while the competition is fierce when playing in the SEC, it does not compare to the intensity or physicality of the NFL. So it would make sense that the grind of the NFL season is beginning to take a toll on Engram.
There’s no denying that Engram is an exceptional talent with a very bright NFL future ahead of him. But as far as the rest of 2017 goes, we may have already seen the best of him.
