Tight end Evan Engram is hunry to build off his strong rookie season in 2017:
First-round draft picks come in with first round expectations.
Evan Engram lived up to his in 2017.
The 23rd overall pick in last year's draft, Engram led all NFL rookie tight ends in receptions (64), yards (722), first downs (37) and 20-yard plays (11). His six touchdowns, which were tied with Tampa Bay's O.J. Howard for first, broke Bob Tucker's franchise record for rookie tight ends, a mark that had held up since 1970.
"It was a major blessing," Engram said. "It was a good blessing and a lot of lessons learned. I definitely had fun making my dreams come true and a lot of work got done. I'm definitely excited for 2018."
The Ole Miss product's strong season landed him on the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) 2017 All-Rookie Team. Engram was one of two Giants to make it, the other being last year's second-round pick, defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson.
Engram flashed plenty of NFL pass-catching potential in college, to the tune of 162 receptions for 2,320 yards (14.3-yard average) and 15 touchdowns. If there were any questions about Engram coming out of Ole Miss, it was his ability to block at the point of attack, an area he worked hard at this past season.
"Guys like Rhett [Ellison] and Jerell [Adams] kind of helped teach me a lot of different things and a lot of different techniques and kind of just evolving the fundamentals," Engram said. "So I definitely learned a lot and got better in that field for sure."
Even though he led or tied all NFL rookie tight ends in every major receiving category, Engram is eyeing even more production in 2018.
"Definitely just looking hard in the mirror and checking the film and seeing things I can improve on," Engram said. "I know where I can get better at and kind of just working at those and kind of even learning from a lot of vets around the league that have been doing it for a while. So I'm going to train, get some rest, enjoy family but I'm also really excited about getting better at some things I need to improve on."
