Who Should I Start? Evan Engram or Giovanni Ricci

Sunday, April 13, 4:58 PM

Denver Broncos tight end Evan Engram lauded his new quarterback, Bo Nix, last week in an interview with DNVR's Bennie Fowler. "He has everything that it takes to be great in this league," said Engram. The 30-year-old went on to praise Nix's dual-threat ability and noted that the team should continue to put talent around such a weapon. The Georgia native was fantastic in 2023 with the Jacksonville Jaguars, churning out an impressive 114 receptions. However, after being limited to nine games during an injury-plagued 2024, the team released him. Engram has an excellent chance to rebound with the Broncos in 2025 -- particularly as the joker in a Sean Payton offense bereft of weapons outside wideout Courtland Sutton. With Denver set to spend an early pick on running back in the draft later this month, the veteran tight end should provide solid TE1 numbers this season, barring health.

Monday, February 3, 7:02 PM

The New England Patriots signed free-agent tight end Giovanni Ricci (knee) to a Reserve/Futures deal on Monday. Ricci was on the Cleveland Browns' practice squad in 2024 but never was active for a regular-season game and was cut in August due to a knee injury. The 28-year-old former undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan made his NFL debut in 2021 with the Carolina Panthers, with all 36 of his career games coming with Carolina. In three NFL seasons, Ricci has caught only nine of 12 targets for 102 yards and no touchdowns with the Panthers. Ricci is more of a blocker than a pass-catcher and will now represent tight end depth for the Patriots throughout the offseason and into training camp this summer. The most likely scenario is that he'll effective serve as a fullback for new Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.