TAMPA — What a mess Evan Engram walked into.

Here he was, a first-round pick in 2017 out of Mississippi, the same school at which Eli Manning starred. That connection, Engram figured, would be helpful and fun as he embarked on his NFL career. The Giants went 11-5 and made the playoffs the year before Engram arrived, and he was thinking big thoughts.

Then the season started: He played well as a rookie but the team was dreadful, and Engram saw Manning sent to the bench for one game, replaced by (really) Geno Smith. Engram was stunned when the head coach and general manager were fired before the end of the season. The Giants finished 3-13. The next season, Engram had a hard time finding his footing in the offense of the new head coach, Pat Shurmur, the Giants went 5-11 and soon enough, prominent guys like Odell Beckham Jr., Landon Collins and Olivier Vernon were sent packing.

And now this. Two games and two more losses into his third season, Engram saw Manning benched again, this time for rookie Daniel Jones, and there was a permanence and finality to this everyone can sense. So much has been crammed into Engram’s relatively brief stay with the Giants, so much of it bad, and worse.

So, when Engram says he is not thrown off by this wild ride, believe him.

“Honestly, I’m in a position where there’s no shock,’’ Engram said. “It’s just a part of it. Daniel’s been working really hard, Eli’s been working really hard, that was a decision the coaches and the guys upstairs made. I can’t afford to be shocked or surprised. We’re gonna deal with what we have and go out on Sunday and try to win with DJ and keep it moving forward.’’

As moves go, this one is as dramatic and far-reaching as it gets with a franchise that, for the first time since 2004, has someone other than Eli Manning holding the keys to the future. The same fans who nearly blew a gasket when Jones was selected with the No. 6 pick in the draft now turn their lonely eyes to the 22-year-old Manning-clone with better wheels.

Manning was once a young gunslinger, and he struggled as a rookie. In a broader sense, his development was rapid, leading to great things. He will be stationed on the sideline Sunday afternoon at Raymond James Stadium, wearing a headset and no doubt awkward body language as he serves as the No. 2 quarterback, with Jones making his NFL starting debut against the Buccaneers.

“Be great fans and support the team and whoever’s in there,’’ Manning said. “Daniel will do a great job, he’s worked hard and he’ll handle the situation well.’’

Perhaps Manning comes up with a suggestion that helps the Giants, with Jones at the helm, finally win a game. Jones has not taken a misstep since arriving, and his play in the preseason was un-rookie-like. Manning lost his first start back in 2004, failing to complete half his passes and throwing one more pass to the Falcons than he did to his own team. It happens with rookies.

A quarterback change has been known to spark a team. Can it happen here?

“I believe so,’’ Engram said. “Just naming [Jones] the starter doesn’t do that. We got to execute, we got to go make plays and at the end of the day we got to win.’’