ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- No matter what happens the rest of the season for Denver Broncos tight end Evan Engram, a 30-second slice of overtime this past Sunday night was a reminder of possibilities and potential for the 31-year-old in Denver's offense.
On the Broncos' third overtime play in a 27-26 victory over the Washington Commanders, quarterback Bo Nix hit Engram on a pivot route 4 yards downfield. Engram turned that short pass into a 41-yard catch-and-run to the Commanders' 11-yard line. Two plays later, running back RJ Harvey scored the eventual game-winning touchdown on a 5-yard run.
"It feels great, man," Engram said. "Feels great just to make a big play like that for the team."
It was Engram's longest play of the season by 21 yards and his only catch that has gone for more than 20 yards this season, something he hopes to build on when the Broncos play at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday (4:05 p.m. ET, Allegiant Stadium, CBS). Prior to that play, Engram's season had deviated from some of the spring and summer discourse about his potential use in the Broncos' offense.
Engram was peppered with "joker" references on his social media accounts -- Broncos coach Sean Payton's term for the multi-task spot in his offense which has been filled by Alvin Kamara, Reggie Bush and others through the years. The Broncos wined and dined Engram when free agency opened in March, with visions he could be the tight end receiving threat they haven't had since Noah Fant led the team in receptions in 2021.
But like Payton likes to say, seasons unfold their own ways. Engram's has unfolded with a little more down-to-down uncertainty than expected. He is third on the team with 38 receptions. He's also third with 339 receiving yards, but that ranks 25th among NFL tight ends. Engram also has a minus-5.9 receptions over expectation -- which measures whether a player turns an expected completion into a catch -- the lowest of any tight end with a reception, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
Engram has played more than 30 offensive snaps in only three games this season -- with a high of 45 in Week 7 against the Giants -- including 38 against Washington. Those are also just three games where he has had more than six targets, a marked departure for a player who caught 114 passes for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023.
"I think it happens sometimes," Payton said. "It's hard to predict where the ball goes sometimes. Sometimes the coverage dictates it. We'll keep looking for those touches [for Engram]. ... He's doing really good."
The Broncos have had a bit of a bumpy season on offense (they have the second-highest percentage of three-and-out drives in the league), and Engram has been caught in that. When he was signed to a two-year, $23 million contract in the offseason, there was plenty of thought given to how Engram could threaten defenses down the field, particularly in intermediate areas where the team had seen little recent impact from tight ends.
But according to NFL Next Gen Stats, Engram and Adam Trautman -- the other Broncos tight end with more than 10 receptions this season -- have had 64% and 94% of their targets within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, respectively. Like on the overtime play against the Commanders, Engram has added substantial yardage after many of his catches.
Of his 339 receiving yards, 249 have come the catch, accounting for 73.2% of his receiving yards. That's the highest percentage for any tight end in the league with more than 30 receptions. Engram attributes some of that to the Broncos' success moving the ball in end-of-half and end-of-game situations; they have trailed in all 10 of their wins.
"I've said we're just really confident in our tempo and our two-minute, the menu of plays that we run," Engram said. "Sean [Payton] always calls them 'songs that we know.' And we just execute. When it's two-minute, we need to score, we feel good about what we can do in those situations."
That played out against Washington. Of his six receptions for 79 yards (both season-highs), half came either on the overtime drive or on a touchdown drive right before halftime. With the Broncos limited at the position -- Lucas Krull is on injured reserve, Nate Adkins has been out since October with a knee injury and practice-squad tight end Marcedes Lewis has run out of game-day elevations to the roster -- the Broncos need Engram to continue to ascend.
"I think that's what gets lost on people is when the plays are being made," Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton said. "Being able to make plays when the pressure may be the highest in the game, that's when you can really tell the athletic character of what a guy is."
With five games left in the regular season and the Broncos in pursuit of the AFC's No. 1 seed, Engram said he isn't concerned about targets or scoring touchdowns. Just that when the ball comes his way, he's ready to do something with it.
"I think everybody on this team prides themselves on answering the bell," Engram said. "That's what I want to do. Answer the bell, every time, when needed and help us get wins."