Forget Waldo.
Where’s Evan?
The Broncos signed Evan Engram to be their “joker.” They were thinking of something along the lines of Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger. Instead, the former Jacksonville tight end has sailed closer to Jared Leto — a performance that’s hard to watch.
Check that.
Hard to find.
Through two weeks, the Broncos have targeted Engram, Denver’s big offseason free-agent addition at tight end, just six times. He’s caught only four balls for 33 yards.
Per The Denver Post’s Luca Evans, Engram was No. 2 among Broncos receivers during Sunday’s 29-28 loss at Indianapolis in pass snaps from the slot (nine) and No. 3 in terms of routes run (18 snaps). Yet Engram’s also shown up on just 38% of the Broncos’ offensive snaps through two games.
Context: Incumbents Adam Trautman and Lucas Krull have played on 60% and 23% of those snaps, respectively.
More context: Engram’s never played on fewer than 67% of his team’s snaps over any regular season, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.
Clearly, Engram needs some sort of leverage on Sean Payton. And you don’t have to be Batman to figure out that something’s wrong with Payton’s joker.
Engram, 31, left Week 1’s win over the Titans late with a calf injury. After that brutal ending at Lucas Oil Field, the tight end told The Post’s Parker Gabriel he still feels “good … (I’ve) just got to stay ready. Keep staying in the game, supporting the guys, doing everything possible for the success of the offense, and the opportunities will come.”
Will they, though? Film reviews on social media in Weeks 1 and 2 have shown Engram struggling to get open. And when he does, quarterback Bo Nix might not be looking his way.
The NFL’s Next Gen Stats tracked Nix’s completions from Week 2 on a field map. It’s not a pretty picture. Of the second-year QB’s 22 connections (on 30 throws), only one was more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Eight were at or behind the line.
You want to Bo-lieve. You really do. Yet Nix had a big-time blind spot in Indy, one that landed roughly between the hashmarks, some 14-15 yards past the line of scrimmage. The No Bo Zone against the Colts was about where you recall Devaughn Vele squirting free on second or third down last November and December. The place where an elite tight end, streaking up the seam, should absolutely carve defenses up.
Et tu, Evan? If Engram’s too dinged up to be that tight end right now, he shouldn’t be playing. There’s no shame in shutting it down until you’re right. Especially if Payton would rather just lean on the guys from last year, regardless of their ceilings.
Because if this is about pride, the only thing being proven on the field so far is that the $23 million spent on Engram is burning a hole in GM George Paton’s wallet.
Broncos Country was promised better. Payton’s best teams in New Orleans got steady to exemplary production from tight ends, be it Jimmy Graham or Jeremy Shockey.
At his first news conference after getting thumped out of the playoffs at Buffalo last January, Sunshine Sean stressed the need for a “joker” who could stretch the defense from the middle of the field. He name-dropped Travis Kelce.
“That inner triangle of attacking a defense,” the coach noted, “is really important.”
As he said that, I remember nodding. I think we all did.
Engram was inked to a two-year deal in March. Still, draftniks far and wide liked the Broncos drafting a front-line tight end if they weren’t taking a tailback. It made too much sense.
One catch: Penn State’s Tyler Warren and Michigan’s Colston Loveland were both expected to be off the board well before the Broncos picked at No. 20. And they were — Loveland got snapped up by the Bears with the 10th pick, while Warren, the reigning Mackey Award winner, went to Indy four spots later.
The Broncos stayed put, and surprised most pundits by taking the BPA — Best Player Available — in Texas DB Jahdae Barron at 20. Running back wasn’t addressed until RJ Harvey in the second round. Tight end wasn’t touched until the seventh round, when the Broncos snatched Caleb Lohner out of Utah with the 241st pick.
Lohner spent Week 2 on the practice squad. Barron, meanwhile, played on 16% of the Broncos’ defensive snaps against the Colts. Warren played on 93% of Indy’s offensive snaps. Engram played on 42% of Denver’s offensive snaps.
The Broncos’ inner “triangle” to start a possible future playoff tie-breaker was J.K. Dobbins at running back with Trautman and Krull in a two-tight-end formation. The Colts started Jonathan Taylor at tailback, Josh Downs at slot receiver and Warren at tight end.
Denver got 95 yards on total offense from its triangle. Indianapolis managed 345. Warren alone nearly quadrupled the yardage count of all three Broncos tight ends on the day (79 to 22).
The Chiefs are 0-2 for the first time in 11 years. Every week, the door to the top of the AFC West creeps open a little more. If Payton doesn’t start shoving this offense through it, the joker’s on Broncos Country.
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