It took a bit longer than perhaps anticipated — about 13 weeks, to be exact — but Evan Engram at last enjoyed his breakout performance with the Denver Broncos. And it couldn’t have come at a more fortuitous time.
The veteran tight end set season highs in targets (9), receptions (6), and receiving yards (79) amid Denver’s 27-26 overtime victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday night. Those numbers were also good enough to pace all Broncos pass-catchers.
His biggest contribution came on the Broncos’ final offensive drive when he took a short Bo Nix pass and rumbled 41 yards deep into Washington territory, helping set up running back RJ Harvey’s eventual game-deciding score.
This is what the Broncos imagined from their quote-unquote “Joker” when they signed Engram to a two-year, $23 million contract in free agency. After battling injury and settling into the pecking order, he’s finally returning on the team’s investment.
“In some weeks, it works out, some weeks it doesn’t,” head coach Sean Payton said of Engram on Wednesday. “It’s not as easy as saying, ‘This is going to be…’ There are going to be certain coverages. We got a great coverage look in the empty the other night for his isolation route. It’s about looking at the gameplan, looking at… There are certain throws that have certain guys’ names on them. It doesn’t necessarily mean it always goes to them. He’s one of the guys that we want to have ‘X’ amount of targets to. I think the thing he does really well is run and run after the catch.”
In Payton’s spread-the-wealth offense, it’s futile to predict who will get the ball on a consistent basis. Some weeks, it’s Courtland Sutton. Others, it’s Troy Franklin. This past week, they made a concerted effort to involve Engram and rookie wideout Pat Bryant (7 targets, 3 receptions, 42 yards).
The primary benefactor is often dictated by matchup. Fortunately for Engram, he has a juicy one in front of him in the Las Vegas Raiders, who come into Week 14 ranking 26th in points allowed per game and 17th in both passing yards and passing touchdowns allowed per game.
“I think that those guys going out and doing what they did this past game allows us to be able to continue to open our offense up and allows other guys to be successful because now you can’t say, ‘Well this guy doesn’t do this, and this guy doesn’t do that.’ No, these guys are just as pivotal pieces in this offense as everybody else,” Sutton said Wednesday of Denver’s tight ends. “I was excited to see those guys have the success that they had. I know there’s a lot more on the table for them and the rest of the offense.”
Nov 30, 2025; Landover, Maryland, USA; Denver Broncos tight end Evan Engram (1) carries the ball after a reception against the Washington Commanders in the second quarter of the game at Northwest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images | Peter Casey-Imagn Images
Like Engram, Like Marvin?
Payton was asked an interesting question while holding court with the media on Wednesday: could he get WR Marvin Mims as involved as Engram was against Washington? Mims was held to two receptions for eight yards, adding a nine-yard carry — a nonfactor on a night Nix exceeded 300 air yards.
While Mims will remain an integral part of the club, particularly on special teams, Payton admitted (in no uncertain terms) that it can be “challenging” to feature one player or another in the passing game.
“We finished the play-action last night. Maybe there’s 10 plays, and then we just go through those 10 and then put a jersey number next to each one if the primary is open and the drop back,” Payton explained. “Maybe you tweak one because we needed… I think that’s really important. Are we getting the ball in our guys’ hands? That doesn’t guarantee it, but you do have to give some thought as to the personnel and who do we think is primary. Now sometimes it’s easy if it’s a sweep or a handoff, but other times in the passing game, it can be a little bit more challenging. We didn’t know [TE] Evan [Engram] was going to catch that 40-yard completion. We’re at the line, and [QB] Bo [Nix] has a menu. He gets us to the right play, and then bam, it’s Evan’s play. If they play a different coverage, it might be Sutton’s play. Part of that is the menu of what he’s getting to. It was a fantastic route, but more impressive was just the speed. I think it was like three or four completions and then the run.”