Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton met with local media early on Monday morning in Florida during the NFL’s Annual League meeting. As the team enters its second season with Bo Nix leading the way, their offseason addition of Evan Engram was important, according to Denver’s head coach.
Denver Broncos addition of Evan Engram key for Bo Nix, offense
There’s been much debate on social media surrounding the Broncos’ newest free agency addition Evan Engram. He’s a tight end and immediately boosts the Broncos at that position — something they didn’t have last season. Without a true No.1 option, the Broncos relied on Adam Trautman, who led the position group with 188 yards receiving, and Lucas Krull, who led the position room with 19 total catches.
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That type of production was not enough, nor did it move the needle for Denver’s passing attack. In today’s NFL, offenses consistently see two-high shell looks at the safety position (thanks Vic Fangio) and it’s mainly predicated on limiting the deep ball shots offenses want to take.
“We’ve talked about it for two years now, the interior triangle of your passing game [is] the tight end, the running back and the third receiver,” Payton said. “When you’re seeing a lot of these coverage shell looks, those positions have to thrive. The very logistical answer to your question is [TE Evan] Engram is closer to [QB] Bo [Nix] than the receivers sometime. The matchups inside—it’s hard to play that position if you’re not able to attack the interior triangle of some of the looks we’re getting defensively. This helps Bo.”
In order to exploit this look, attacking the middle of the field is an important element, whether that be isolating a running back or tight end against an inside linebacker one-on-one or attacking the levels behind them. That’s why the Broncos pursued Engram, who Payton confirmed will be the ‘Joker’ he’s been looking for.
“I would put him in that category or that family,” Payton said. “He is someone who has those skillsets. One of the things that helped us in the process of him making that decision was that role. You can talk about it, but historically speaking [and] having had players like him, I’m excited.’”
Having a player like Engram will be important for Nix in year two, where a player with that type of skillset can be a security blanket option for him if opposing defenses focus on trying to take away Courtland Sutton. Engram opens up a realm of possibilities for what was a Top-10 scoring offense in 2024.
