‘Joker’ Evan Engram should be on your fantasy football radar

Fantasy football draft season is officially here. NFL training camps are open, position battles are being fought, and with roughly one month to go before Week 1 kickoff, commissioners everywhere are scrambling around to set dates for your fantasy drafts. Now it is our job as analysts to make sure you’re drafting the right players.

Having an understanding of coaching schemes is one of the most undervalued assets with regard to choosing which players you want to draft. If a coach’s system caters to a player’s strengths and you’re one of the few who know this, you can find some fantastic diamonds in the rough.

Take tight end Evan Engram, for example. If you know head coach Sean Payton and his offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi use what is called a “joker” in their scheme, and that Engram is expected to be featured as such, then you don’t need to spend an early draft pick on a Brock Bowers or Trey McBride to get top-five production at the position.

The “joker” in the Broncos offense is a tight end or running back who also works as a wide receiver. He can run clean routes, has great hands, and can line up as both an outside and a slot receiver.

We saw Lombardi and Payton do exactly this with Jimmy Graham when they were in New Orleans together. Graham lined up everywhere and for four straight seasons — averaging 138 targets, 89 receptions, 1,099 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns per year. Denver’s acquisition of Engram was with exactly this in mind.

Engram has had some serious ups and downs throughout his eight-year career. He saw four different head coaches during his five years with the Giants, learned four different playbooks and struggled with injuries for two of those seasons as well. He was never a huge focal point of the passing attack, and when he was called upon, struggled with drops.

He signed with the Jaguars as a free agent but endured another rough season under Urban Meyer. But once he settled in with new coach Doug Pederson, all of that potential shined with his first 100-catch season in 2023. Injuries got the better of him again last year, but now he’s in Denver, and he’s with a coaching staff that wants him featured.

Aside from Courtland Sutton, the Broncos aren’t exactly loaded with pass-catching talent. Marvin Mims is still learning, and the rest of the receiving corps is extremely green. The running backs will also be involved in the passing game, another trademark of Lombardi, but Engram should work beautifully as the Broncos “joker” and will likely push towards his first 1,000-yard season.

The current ADP has Engram coming off the board as TE8 and drafted somewhere in the eighth round of most 12-team leagues. Instead of taking one of the top-five tight ends, all of whom seem to be going a little too early, you can wait to take Engram and spend your time loading up on the elite running backs and wide receivers. Maybe you can even invest in one of the top-five quarterbacks as well. Your roster should find its way to the championship from there.

Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy football news and advice.