Fantasy Football Player Notes

Evan Engram's PFF receiving grade has declined over the last four seasons, bottoming out in 2021 at 54.9 - 40th among 44 qualifying tight ends.
And he hasn't disappointed due to a lack of opportunities, either. He finished top-15 in route participation (68%) and had almost zero competition for targets with injuries to Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and Sterling Shepard.
Alas, Engram failed to command any worthwhile target share with his abysmal 14% target rate per route run. So consider me slightly hesitant to buy into Engram breaking out in 2022 because his new head coach has a history of featuring tight ends. Sure, it works in Engram's favor, but last I checked Dan Arnold is still on the team. And Doug Pederson has also been known to heavily feature two tight ends in his offense, which doesn't always translate to fantasy success.

Unlike Evan Engram in recent seasons, Dan Arnold has proven he can be an efficient NFL tight end. Arnold could overtake Engram as the Jaguars' top passing-catching tight end this season as the weeks roll on. In Weeks 5-11 last year, he played 62% or higher snaps in every game and was ninth in targets among tight ends (17% target share, 6.3 targets per game). In 2021 he was seventh in targets per snap and tenth in yards per route run immediately behind Darren Waller (minimum 20 targets, per PFF). While people worry about Engram or fawn over his athleticism, don't let Arnold's efficiency and own gym rat chops get lost in the mix. Arnold has a 98th percentile burst score (per Playerprofiler.com) and 93rd percentile agility.