EAST RUTHERFORD - Evan Engram has already won over plenty of observers in his first three months with the Giants.

Included in that: the best tight end in the history of the franchise.

Giants legend Mark Bavaro watched Engram in practice this spring during off-season workouts and met with the first-round pick afterward.

His immediate impression: at 22, Engram has what it takes to be special.

"They weren't in pads yet, just shorts and helmets, but I was very impressed with Evan Engram - very impressed," Bavaro told The Record and NorthJersey.com by phone from his Boston-area home Thursday morning.

"Right off the bat, you can see he's a great athlete, he's smooth and he runs unbelievably. He's not small, he's not huge, but he's got good size, and he's out there, his footwork is impressive, his cutting and the way he ran his patterns. Just the way he reaches up for the ball, the way the ball fits in his hands, he's really a special talent."

That's high praise from the iconic Bavaro, a two-time Super Bowl champion who was inducted into the team's Ring of Honor in 2011. Of course, Engram is just getting started.

The Giants' tight end of the present and, they hope, the long-term future took the time after meeting Bavaro to do even more research. He asked around for scouting reports and searched for some highlights online, knowing any history lessons learned from watching Bavaro would serve him well.

What Engram had not seen until Thursday was video of one of the greatest plays in Giants history: the one from the December 1, 1986 game against the San Francisco 49ers when Bavaro bounced off three tackles before carrying three defenders - including Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott - for a 31-yard gain.

When showed the replay of Bavaro's catch-and-drag after practice, a wide-eyed Engram watched with his mouth agape and initially offered just a one-word response as part of his reaction.

"Savage," Engram said, pausing while watching it again, then adding: "Young guys like me, nowadays, we call that savage right there. The effort, the desire to keep going - he's just dragging people: two, three, four guys at one time. Crazy."

Reminded that one of those - Lott - is considered one of the greatest to ever play his position in the history of the NFL - Engram quipped: "Shoot, [Bavaro's] one of the best, too."

Being that they are from different eras, it's fruitless to compare what made Bavaro so good to what Engram's skill set should be. An accomplished receiver, Bavaro was asked to do far more blocking than Engram will in today's game.

As Bavaro likely deserves more credit than he gets for his ability as a receiver, Engram wants to earn that same credit for his blocking, which was criticized by scouts coming out of Ole Miss. So far, with two preseason games under his belt in preparation for a third Saturday night against the Jets, Engram has held his own in both areas.

"He's on the wall right there, right before we walk in our position meeting room," Engram said, pointing to an enlarged portrait of Bavaro that hangs in the nearby hallway of the Giants' facility.

"I knew some of the names, obviously, I knew of Jeremy Shockey, but Mark Bavaro's the biggest picture on there, so yeah, what a legend. You watch highlights, great player, hard-nosed guy, fans loved him, Super Bowl champ, what more could you want from a tight end? "

While so many marvel at Bavaro's famous play against the 49ers, he prefers to consider another as the one that sums up his career.

"I dropped the ball, and it bounced off my helmet in the Super Bowl [XXI in 1987], and I turned around, and there was one of my teammates picking up my slack," Bavaro recalled with a laugh. "But I think that's what exemplified those Giants teams. We were a great team, but not only because we had great talent, but because we were great teammates - we all played for one another, we all sacrificed for one another, and we helped carry each other through the hard times. That's what makes a championship team."

Bavaro will meet with fans and watch the Giants-Jets game Saturday night beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Empire City Casino in Yonkers,

"It's nice to be remembered," Bavaro said. "I can't believe they still remember me after all these years. I mean, it's been a long time, 30 years. Back in 1987, if you asked me to remember someone from 1957, I don't think I would've remembered anybody even if people told me about him. So I never get tired of meeting Giants fans, hearing about the Lott play from older fans, and from younger fans, whose dads or moms told them, 'Hey, that Mark Bavaro was a great player.'"

That's the standard for Giants tight ends, Engram acknowledged with a smile: "Definitely something and someone to live up to."