NFL fantasy diamonds for 2022 - Tight-ends

Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville Jaguars tight-end Evan Engram

I understand why a lot of New York Giants fans have been frustrated by Evan Engram because of several ugly drops in high-leverage moments and just some of the inconsistencies we've seen. But let's be real here - before this past season, he averaged 50 yards per game and in tight-end land that's pretty high up there. For some perspective, only seven guys in that position crossed that mark last NFL season.

This was while playing for a New York offense that finished 31st in points scored in three of his five seasons in the NFL. Along with 16th and 18th in the two other years, catching passes from a broken-down Eli Manning and a highly inconsistent Daniel Jones, with very underwhelming coaching staffs.

The Jacksonville Jaguars finished the 2021 NFL season dead-last in scoring and their QB tied for a league-high in interceptions thrown. So it may not look a whole lot better on the surface, but let's not act like those numbers can be taken seriously. They were playing for a coach who literally might go down as one of the worst hires in NFL history for what he did on and off the field.

There's a reason Trevor Lawrence was the number one overall pick in last year's draft and was penciled in for that spot for a good two years basically. The talent is off the charts and he will be so much better, just by having solutions conceptually, better weapons around him and some structure in the team.

However, as much as this coaching staff will do for their young signal-caller, Doug Pederson's track record for the TE position should encourage people. Between 2016-2020 his Philadelphia Eagles were number one in the NFL in targets, catches & first downs picked up by tight-ends, along with third in touchdowns.

I’ve already talked some about what the Jaguars offense may look like in 2022, but one area I haven't mentioned is how much Pederson and company used their tight-ends as coverage indicators back in Philly. They would routinely split them out wide to see who would shadow them and create cleaner looks. Engram has that skill-set to win on the perimeter, along with being an obvious mismatch athletically against almost any linebacker in the NFL.

This should be a much more open passing attack for Jacksonville, with the skill-players they've brought in. While none of them may be super-high volume targets. Dan Arnold did have success for them with 324 yards in eight games. But it's more encouraging to project how productive Engram could be, because this regime specifically targeted him and gave him nine million fully guaranteed in a prove-it year. The 2021 Jaguars finished 29th in offensive plays run in the NFL. All five offenses under Pederson as head coach have finished top-eight for pace.

I believe it's all right there for him and he has a chance to put up career-highs, which would make him a legitimate starting option on a weekly basis. You could potentially completely disregard tight end until the end of your drafts.