ENGLEWOOD — Evan Engram is the first Broncos player to walk on the field.

Every practice. No exceptions. Thirty minutes before it begins.

“It’s just how I’m wired now,” Engram said.

The 31-year-old NFL veteran enters his first Broncos season as their next great hope for an elite Broncos tight end. It’s been a significant drought. Denver has whiffed on most of its recent tight end draft picks — Jeff Heuerman (2015), Jake Butt (‘17), Troy Fumagalli (‘18), Noah Fant (‘19), Albert Okwuegbunam (‘20) and Greg Dulcich (‘22) — prior to signing Engram this offseason in free agency.

But his eight NFL seasons also featured peaks and valleys.

The highs: Six receiving touchdowns as a rookie. A Pro Bowl selection with the Giants and Jaguars. At least 40 catches in every season. A career-best 114 receptions for 963 yards with Jacksonville in 2023.

The lows: Missed seven games due to injury in 2019 with New York. Eleven dropped passes in 2020. Just one career postseason appearance. Seven games missed last year because of injuries in Jacksonville.

Calling himself a 'Cleaner,' Evan Engram seeks to provide much-needed production at tight end for Broncos

The risk vs. reward is real with Engram.

But good luck finding anyone who questions his football dedication.

“I had some adversity early in my career, changed some things around, pushed myself a little bit more and found a routine that brought a lot of success,” Engram said about his training habits. “Once you find something that works, you keep going. It’s evolved. I’ve gotten a lot smarter. There used to be days where I would literally practice before practice. Now, it’s just kind of a quick good warmup, getting the sweat going a little bit, getting the joints moving and just being ready for the day.”

Engram’s reputation as one of the NFL’s top pass-catching tight ends is evidenced by his role at Tight End University. The annual gathering of tight ends across the league has taken place over three days every summer going back to 2021. It is designed for players to share techniques and training methods.

Broncos tight end Lucas Krull was among those tight ends in attendance for 2024 and 2025.

“I’ll never forget my first year at Tight End U, when I met (Engram), the first thing I ever noticed was his first step off the ball,” Krull told The Denver Gazette. “This guy gets like 5 yards with one step. I had to go up to him. I said: ‘Dude, how do you get there? How do you do that? I’ve got long legs, but you explode.’ He talked about power over speed.”

Krull wasn’t the only tight end hoping to learn more from Engram.

“Evan had his own segment where he broke down releases and stuff at the line,” Krull said. “Travis (Kelce) goes up there talking about routes. George (Kittle) goes up there and does a lot of awesome stuff in the run game. … It’s so awesome to learn from these guys that have been doing it for years and years at the highest level.”

Tight end Evan Engram becoming a favorite target of Bo Nix | Broncos training camp Day 6

Engram’s elite habits have already been on display with the Broncos before playing a regular-season snap. Tight end Adam Trautman noticed one thing in particular during practice at training camp.

“The time he spends talking to the quarterbacks,” Trautman told The Denver Gazette. “Like: ‘How do you see this, Bo (Nix)? How do you want this run? How do you see this route versus this coverage?’ Things like that, it’s something I’ve been around, but he takes it to a different level in how he communicates it.”

Engram’s talent was on full display in the second preseason game.

On second-and-8 from their own 5-yard-line, quarterback Jarrett Stidham rolled out right on play action. He connected with Engram on a short crossing route, and the veteran tight end did the rest. Engram sprinted down the sideline — with excellent blocks from wide receivers Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant — for a gain of 58 yards.

“He’s an elite receiver, and I’m not even going to say for a tight end,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said. “His movement skills are fantastic. He can jump, jump up in the red zone and grab those high balls. He can separate, and (he is) a smart player. … The things you don’t know when you’re watching film on a guy that you’re not familiar with is just how serious he takes it, how hard he works, and so he’s been all positives.”

Engram joins a team with Super Bowl expectations laid out by coach Sean Payton. The veteran tight end embraces that lofty goal, especially after his lone playoff appearance in 2023 resulted in Jaguars heartbreak — losing 27-20 to the Chiefs in the divisional round.

“It’s a championship mindset. We’re not really listening or worried about what’s said outside,” Engram said. “That’s just our standard every day. That’s something that we have to earn. It’s not going to be handed to us, and it’s not just going to fall in our lap. How we attack every single day is going to push us in that direction.”

That’s why you’ll find Engram on the practice field at Broncos Park long before most teammates.

“There’s no shortage of hard work from him and he cares about it a lot. That’s something I heard when we signed him,” Trautman told The Denver Gazette. “He’s shown it. It’s not just talk. I actually just talked to one of the tight ends on Arizona, one of my buddies that I came out in the draft class with. He said: ‘Isn’t it crazy that Evan is out here every day 30 minutes before practice?’”

Best tight end seasons in Broncos history

Examining the top NFL seasons from tight ends in Broncos history (listed by total receiving yards):

1997 — Shannon Sharpe: 72 receptions for 1,107 yards and 3 touchdowns

1996 — Shannon Sharpe: 80 receptions for 1,062 yards and 10 touchdowns

1994 — Shannon Sharpe: 87 receptions for 1,010 yards and 4 touchdowns

1993 — Shannon Sharpe: 81 receptions for 995 yards and 9 touchdowns

1978 — Riley Odoms: 54 receptions for 829 yards and 6 touchdowns

2013 — Julius Thomas: 65 receptions for 788 yards and 12 touchdowns

2003 — Shannon Sharpe: 62 receptions for 770 yards and 8 touchdowns

1998 — Shannon Sharpe: 64 receptions for 768 yards and 10 touchdowns

1995 — Shannon Sharpe: 63 receptions for 756 yards and 4 touchdowns

2002 — Shannon Sharpe: 61 receptions for 686 yards and 3 touchdowns

2020 — Noah Fant: 62 receptions for 673 yards and 3 touchdowns

2021 — Noah Fant: 68 receptions for 670 yards and 4 touchdowns

2008 — Tony Scheffler: 40 receptions for 645 yards and 3 touchdowns

1992 — Shannon Sharpe: 53 receptions for 640 yards and 2 touchdowns

1974 — Riley Odoms: 42 receptions for 639 yards and 6 touchdowns

2014 — Julius Thomas: 46 receptions for 489 yards and 12 touchdowns

—Kyle Fredrickson, The Denver Gazette