Sources Tell Us: Scout compares Evan Engram to Jordan Reed

[RS12]

The scoop: "Most of the time we will stick to our physical parameters for safeties, but Budda (Baker) might end up being one of those guys who we ignore the size on. He's so athletic and his football character is so high that it might be necessary to give him a pass on how short he is." -- NFC personnel director on the Washington safety

The skinny: Baker is probably hoping to measure in at 5-foot-10 at the NFL Scouting Combine (March 3-6 on NFL Network), but I'm not sure he's going to measure that tall. Safeties have to be the last line of defense as tacklers and make plays on jump balls down the field, so teams prefer safeties who reach minimum height and weight numbers (5-foot-10, 200 pounds, give or take an inch or a couple of pounds). Baker has terrific speed and is a war daddy against the run, so hearing an executive say that they might be willing to look past some height issues isn't shocking to me

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...dan-reed?campaign=tw-cf-sf58235556-sf58235556

 

[jterrell]

"war daddy" .. is that you jerry?

 

[Teague31]

Engram is a mismatch in the passing game but adds zero as a blocker

 

[stilltheguru88]

Engram is a mismatch in the passing game but adds zero as a blocker

Sounds like Reed to me

 

[phildadon86]

Sounds like Reed to me

Hed have to miss at least 6-8 games a year to be on par with Reed

 

[marchetta]

Evan Engram TE/WR Mississippi


TALENT
ROUND 3

STRENGTHS
Evan has good overall size, speed and athleticism to become a core player in the passing game. He shows excellent effort blocking and has the speed to split the safeties. He can run the hash marks forcing safeties to cover him, which opens up the outside receivers for single converges. Evan is a difficulty match up for most linebackers to cover and stay with because of his speed and it’s almost impossible on short crossing routes for first downs to stop him. He has good hands and runs good routes. Because of his size and strength, he's good as a Red Zone receiver.

CONCERNS
Evan lacks the lateral agility to adjust to passes thrown to him and change direction quickly to block opponents. He lacks the hip flexibility to change routes on the run but he can compensate for this with hard work and understanding his limitations. This also affects his ability to gain yardage after the catch because he will not be able to juke players in the open field. Evan also struggles with constancy catching contested balls because of this lack of ability to adjust to the ball in the air. His strength is his straight line speed and size and the work ethic he shows on the field to become stronger and better with the talents he has.

BOTTOM LINE
Evan has been a very good player at the college level and there is no reason that can’t continue at the NFL level. He will always struggle with consistency as a blocker because of his lack of lateral agility. He's limited in the routes he'll be able to run. He'll excel if used in the slot and running crossing routes. His hands will have to get stronger in order to hold on to contested balls. He has talent to play on the outside as a wide receiver in the red zone, but he'll have to develop the skills to adjust to the ball in the air and catch the ball at its high point while being contested. If he can accomplish this, than Evan becomes the type of player who quarterbacks buy bling, bling and cars for.

- Drew Boylhart (The Huddle Report) [PARAPHRASED]