Evan Engram is still settling into his new NFL home with the Denver Broncos. A month out from having joined the team on a two-year deal in free agency, Engram dished to DNVR's Bennie Fowler on the factors that led him to join the Broncos.
It started with Broncos pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Davis Webb — Engram's former teammate with the New York Giants — reaching out within 30 minutes of the Jacksonville Jaguars releasing him. Webb was a big selling point for Denver when it came to edging out the equally interested Los Angeles Chargers in the Engram sweepstakes.
Although Sean Payton's presence and the meeting Engram had with him played a part, the other key factor, we learned, was quarterback Bo Nix.
“He has everything that it takes to be great in this league,” Engram said via Fowler. “The biggest thing that stood out to me was his presence in the pocket. He’s very calm, very collected. When the pocket does break down, the plays he can make on his feet while having his eyes downfield is something that you have to continue to put great talent around because that is a weapon. That is a true weapon.”
Indeed, Nix's pocket presence belies his relative NFL inexperience. But then again, he entered the NFL as the most experienced college quarterback of all time, having a then-record 61 career starts.
That experience was attractive to Payton and the Broncos. And when they got to see him in person during the Broncos' private workout with Nix, Payton came out of that day intent on landing the dynamic quarterback in the draft.
“You look back to his college days, he’s played a lot of football,” Engram said via Fowler. “A lot of these young quarterbacks come into the league now after maybe sitting out their first year and balling for two years and they’re already a top draft pick, which they have all of the talent in the world. But it does take a lot of experience to become great at that position. That’s something Bo has grown a lot. He had a great college career. I think there was a little bit of adversity in there where he had to overcome at a very early part of his career. That speaks a lot to me as somebody who has overcome a lot of things in their career.”
The most underappreciated aspect of Nix's game coming out of college was definitely his speed and mobility. The dude is fast and as we saw his rookie season, he's capable of not just picking up yards when things break down, but he's an actual weapon with his legs.
Throw in his vision for the field, arm talent, accuracy, and leadership skills, and Nix is the complete package. He passed for 3,775 yards and 29 touchdowns as a rookie, shattering the Broncos' rookie records, and setting several of his own marks in NFL canon.
Engram is going to be a massive help to Nix's year-two leap. From the underneath stuff to the vertical seam and more, the Broncos signed a bonafide weapon to help ensure that Nix avoids the dreaded sophomore slump.
But make no mistake; Engram sees all the right stuff in Nix relative to being a franchise quarterback and a "great" player at his position.
“He has everything that it takes to be great in this league,” Engram said via Fowler.
If the Broncos can keep Engram healthy, a prospect of which I'm highly confident in, he could return to form in 2025. Just two years ago, he led all tight ends with 114 receptions before he dealt with an injury-riddled 2024 campaign.
Plugged into the interior triangle of an offense that also features Courtland Sutton on the outside, along with the speedy and dynamic Marvin Mims Jr., Engram's impact will be felt immediately. That'll be especially true for Sutton. Opponents won't be able to shade so much help his away all the time.
Engram said a lot more to Fowler, which DNVR's Zac Stevens did a great job cataloguing in his article. It is very much worth your time to read.
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