Evan Engram’s playing time is going up as he sees more use as a blocker

When tight end Evan Engram was on the field last year, teams knew the Broncos were likely to throw — to the tune of 82.3 percent of the snaps that he played ending in a run play. And that helped contribute to a season in which he played a career-low 42 percent of the snaps for the games in which he played.

It’s different now.

While Engram isn’t yet back at the level he had when he was with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2022-24 — when he saw action on at least 72 percent of the snaps in the games he played during those three years there — he has seen his workload increase, to 57 percent of the snaps in the Broncos’ games against Kansas City and the Jaguars.

Last year, Engram saw work as a blocker on just 76 regular-season snaps in 16 games, per data compiled by Pro Football Focus. With 26 blocking snaps in two weeks — 22 as a run blocker and four in pass protection — he’s on pace to surpass that tally by Week 6.

“I think I’ve definitely wanted to become more dependable, just more consistent in my execution, whether it’s run game, whether it’s blocking in the perimeter,” Engram said.

Last year, Broncos TE Evan Engram played in 42 percent of the snaps during the games in which he took part. Through two games, that's up to 57 percent. He talked about why that's gone up and how it's helped him. "I think just the way that we're calling plays and the ways we want… pic.twitter.com/pBwdlT6nRC

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) September 22, 2026

“And yeah, I think it’s just a credit to good coaching and good communication. We all have a lot on our plate as far as plays and assignments and I think we all do a great job in the tight end room of of knowing what we got, executing it to the best ability but also knowing what everybody else has.”

It also can help the tight ends become more interchangeable. Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, it was Nate Adkins who led the way in the passing game, accumulating 32 yards and a touchdown on three receptions. Six nights earlier, Engram led the entire team with 43 yards on four catches, with Adam Trautman chipping in a pair of receptions.

So, when there’s a moment where I’m caught in the game or I’m in the game and maybe it was a play that ‘Traut’ (Trautman) has been running all week and I get in the game and now I have to do it, I think we’ve all kind of raised up our awareness and responsibility to execution and I think that’s just kind of led to me being on the field more,” Engram said.

And now, the presence of Engram doesn’t tip the hand of primary play-caller Davis Webb.

BRONCOS ARE RUNNING MORE OFTEN WITH ENGRAM ON THE FIELD

During the 2025 season, the Broncos ran infrequently ran whenwas on the field; just 17.7 percent of the plays when he was on the field saw the football kept on the ground. When he wasn’t out there, Denver ran on 57.7 percent of its snaps.

So far this season, that rate has nearly doubled; through two weeks they’ve run the football on 33.9 percent of his snaps, compared with 48.9 percent when he is on the sideline.

“I think just the way that we’re calling plays and the ways we want to attack defenses,” he said when asked about the difference.

“But there’s maybe some tendencies that we built last year that we’re trying to get away from and I think just the dynamics of our tight end room, we’re all able to do a lot of things that can help our offense.”

And now Engram is trusted with a greater role than he had last year. That should make the Broncos’ offense less predictable — and the tight end himself more likely to catch a foe off-guard and make a big play.

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