PHOENIX — Evan Engram’s roller-coaster two-year career has one surprising common denominator.

The Giants promising 24-year-old tight end has 71 catches for 886 yards (12.1 yards per catch) and six touchdowns in the 15 games he has played without then-teammate Odell Beckham on the field.

In 11 games played alongside Beckham, Engram has 38 catches for 413 yards (10.8 yards per catch) and three touchdowns.

In other words, when quarterback Eli Manning doesn’t have the explosive catch-and-run ability of Beckham to use as a safety net, he more frequently looks for the athletic Engram to create a mismatch.

Giants coach Pat Shurmur admitted he has high expectations for Engram’s third season.

“When he got healthier,” Shurmur said, “he was able to produce in a way we think he can.”

Shurmur sees Engram’s late-season surge in 2018 as more strongly correlated to his own healthiness after healing from knee and hamstring injuries than to Beckham’s availability.

“He had production when he was in there, but then he got hurt a few times,” Shurmur said at the NFL Annual Meeting. “By the end he was feeling good, running well and playing well. That is a function of Evan doing his thing.”

The knock on Engram after his rookie season was he does not block well enough to stay at tight end and needed to be moved to wide receiver. Engram scoffed at the notion and then his run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus improved year-over-year from 48.7 to 60.6.

“I think he can block better than you do,” Shurmur told skeptics. “I think his whole game improved when he became healthy. He is a willing blocker.”

The Giants have at least 124 targets — Beckham’s total in 12 games last season — to re-distribute after trading their mercurial wide receiver to the Browns.

Even if Golden Tate, who has averaged 89 catches over the last five seasons, takes most of them, there should be leftovers. If the Giants do not want to burn out Saquon Barkley, the most logical other candidates for increased looks are Engram and Sterling Shepard.

Manning has a long history of giving career years to tight ends who never made an impact anywhere else in the NFL.

With Engram, Rhett Ellison and Scott Simonson, tight end might be the deepest position on the Giants’ short-handed roster. The Giants used “12” personnel — one running back, two tight ends and two receivers — on 24 percent of snaps, which was sixth-most in the NFL in 2018 according to SharpFootballStats.com.

The Giants used a first-round draft pick on Engram in 2017 just weeks after signing Ellison as a free agent. He was picked two picks ahead of new teammate Jabrill Peppers and nine ahead of Saints offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who would’ve filled a bigger need for the Giants ... until the post-Beckham world?

If the Giants want to use Engram as a receiver with Tate and Shepard, Ellison and Simonson have as much claim to the field as any of the other No. 3 receivers like Corey Coleman, Cody Latimer and Bennie Fowler.

“Typically, tight ends are guys that can do everything,” Shurmur said. "You just try and get the best out of the guys that you have. I believe in the tight end group and we try and utilize them to the best of our ability.

“I can flex Evan out, put him outside the wide receiver and move him around. He can also play attached (to the line of scrimmage). As we get a better feel for him, we will keep him in the mix.”

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.