What happened to Evan Engram? PFF’s lowest-graded Jaguars on offense in Week 1

The Jacksonville Jaguars botched an opportunity to knock off a beatable Miami Dolphins team on the road in Week 1. After a strong start, Jacksonville’s offense petered out in the second half, held scoreless over its final six possessions.

The Jaguars needed more from their top skill position players. Travis Etienne had a rare and costly fumble in the third quarter. And where was tight end Evan Engram, the security blanket for quarterback Trevor Lawrence last season with a career-high 114 receptions?

Both Etienne and Engram were among PFF's lowest-graded Jaguars players on offense in Sunday’s 20-17 loss in Miami. Of particular note was Engram’s low usage. Per PFF’s advanced stats , he was on the field for only 36 of the team’s 53 offensive snaps, logging one catch on four targets for 5 yards. For reference, Engram didn’t catch fewer than four passes in any of Jacksonville’s 17 games last season.

Part of the problem could be game script, as Lawrence only attempted 21 passes Sunday after the team jumped out to an early 14-0 lead. While Engram is a willing and able pass blocker, he’s been seeing less reps in the run game since the preseason. Tight ends Brenton Strange (19 snaps) and Luke Farrell (17) both saw playing time as coach Doug Pederson attempted to pound the rock with Etienne and Tank Bigsby, the duo getting an even 12 rushes apiece.

5 lowest-graded Jaguars on offense in Week 1

1. RT Anton Harrison — 33.3
2. WR Christian Kirk — 50.8
3. RG Brandon Scherff — 52.9
4. TE Evan Engram — 53.8
5. RB Travis Etienne — 54.7

It was a rough game for the right side of Jacksonville’s offensive line. Per PFF, Harrison was responsible for a pair of sacks and four QB pressures. Scherff was solid in pass protection, not allowing a single pressure or hurry, but the veteran was dinged with a poor run blocking grade of 47.0.

Kirk had a quiet opener operating mostly out of the slot. He ran a route on 91% of his snaps, but only managed to haul in one of his four targets. On the plus side, his lone catch was a 30-yard chunk play.

Etienne was outplayed in this one by his backup. Bigsby was the more efficient runner, averaging 6.1 yards per carry to Etienne’s 3.7. Etienne was also unable to impact the passing game, catching just two passes for 15 yards.

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