Mike Evans’ Rebound Needed
April 3rd, 2016
Needs more TDs.
The depth of the Bucs’ receiving corps is nearly as empty as the finished glass of Bud Light Joe just killed at Hooters. No, the foam doesn’t count.
When Vincent Jackson went down last, the Tampa Bay offense ground to a halt. It didn’t help when No. 3 receiver Louis Murphy blew out his knee during the Capitol Collapse. Who knows if he will be able to return?
So the Bucs were left with undrafted free agents Adam Humphries and misplaced Calgary Stampeder Donteea Dye. The results were predictable.
Mike Evans? Oh, he put up good numbers when he didn’t have K-Y fingers, or was hollering at the refs, or when not jawing with cornerbacks.
In the eyes of former FOX Sports columnist and current writer for Today’s Pigskin, Jeff Smith, the Bucs need to have Evans playing at a top-shelf level to produce meaningful January games.
As badly as the Buccaneers need to keep opponents out of the end zone, they also need to get Evans the ball in the end zone. After a rookie season which featured Evans hauling in 12 touchdowns, he was held to just three over 15 games last season. The good news for Evans, is that he had more receptions and more yards this past season, but he has to find a way to cross the goal line more frequently. At 6-foot-5 and 231 pounds, Winston needs to utilize Evans like the red zone weapon that he truly is. Expect Evans to get back close to that double-digit touchdown number this coming season.
Joe is just throwing the following speculation out there: Could it be America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, lost trust in Evans after all those drops and wouldn’t throw to him in the end zone?
Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said the chemistry between Jameis and Evans isn’t quite there. While it is a no-brainer that the Bucs need Evans to score touchdowns, priority No. 1 for Evans is to catch the damn ball. Priority No. 2 is to keep his head in the game.
Once those objectives are met, Evans should be just fine.
April 3rd, 2016 at 8:33 am
Jameis threw 22 touchdown passes last year…..he had many targets but Evans should get at least a third of his touchdowns….
So, a good goal would be for Jameis to improve to 27 and for Evans to have 9.
That should be doable.
April 3rd, 2016 at 8:38 am
BUD LIGHT?
You gotta start drinking good beer
April 3rd, 2016 at 8:43 am
James has all the trust in the world in ME. That was evident when he threw to him over and over even after him dropping 6 passes against Houston.
There’s no doubt tho that the bucs must get more outta evans in the red zone. 3 TDs is totally unacceptable from a guy who caught 12 in his rookie year from McClown and Glennon for crying out loud.
If the bucs don’t address the WR position in the draft we are one injury away from last seasons scenario. Are we seriously gonna depend on a WR that blew his knee out last season and can’t stay healthy for 16 games if his life depended on it.
And to V Jax credit he hasnt missed any games before last seasons injury but I’m not gonna put my money on a 33 yr old WR staying healthy all season long.
Let’s pray we stay healthy or this offense is in trouble again. And I don’t think that is fair to Jameis. You would think him being our biggest asset we would soround him with some more weapons but I guess not. I hope Licht plans on drafting a WR.
April 3rd, 2016 at 8:44 am
Yeah ME left easily about, 2 wins, 300 yards and 4 scores on the field last year on his own…
But to be fair… If not for him were probably not in those games…. ASJ needs to play 16 games and we need to finish off building the O this draft… Trade for Mo (gibe the Jets whatever they want!!!) The D will be excellent under coach Smith and we will be able to assets the needs properly and rebuild it through the draft the next few years…
But clearly… We need a couple top notch WR/Returners, another solid TE to replace Stocker… Another RB/FB and a kicker that really wants to play for the Bucs….
Oh and BTW speaking of false stories…. I heard he said he won’t sign with any other team… So I hope the rest of the NFL heard him…. Don’t draft him cause he won’t kick for your team… He’s gonna pull an Eli Manning on you…
April 3rd, 2016 at 8:47 am
Those Michelob ultra’s off the rip. Tampabaybucfan I was thinking you one better with ten. Between Monken and a fresh new spirited vibe in the building ME13 will be fine. The dropsies from him are the least of my worries.
April 3rd, 2016 at 9:04 am
I’m beginning to think that maybe we’re expecting too much from Mike Evans (although I do agree that he needs to do a better job of keeping his head in the game and stop the periodic whining act to the refs).
In 2015 Evans caught exactly 50% of the passes thrown to him (74 of 148 targeted) for 1,206 yds (16.3 avg/catch) but only 3 TDs. Could’ve done better perhaps, but overall that’s not that shabby. VJax caught 53% (33 of 62 targeted) for 543 yds in only 10 games (16.5 avg/catch) and 3 TDs, so Evans and VJax had similar results.
In 2014 their results were similar also … except for the TDs. Evans caught 56% of the passes thrown his way, while VJax caught 49%. The big difference of course was TDs … Evans snagged 12 TDs while VJax got 3 TDs also that year. Perhaps the defenses were focusing more on VJax that year than Evans?
Looked to me last year like Mike Evans really needs VJax out there for him to be really effective. When VJax went down, I thought Mike Evans struggled. Whether he was having to deal with additional protection or not, I don’t know.
April 3rd, 2016 at 9:12 am
Bud Light is like making love in a boat…. it’s fukeing near water!!!
April 3rd, 2016 at 9:25 am
Both Evans and “Captain Morgan”-Seferian Jenkins need to man up! C’mon guys…get it done!
April 3rd, 2016 at 9:49 am
ME13 had alot of drops lady year. The bigger problem wasn’t the total but when he dropped them, there were lots of 3rd down conversions dropped, a couple likely big play scores dropped. It seems like he just lost focus in critical times. As for Jameis losing faith in him, I doubt it, but Jameis kept throwing to him because he was open, something that couldn’t be said by most of our WRs after VJax went down.
April 3rd, 2016 at 12:08 pm
I think that maybe Jameis didn’t hit M.E For a couple of reasons, One being that in college Jamies would have a fav target and stare him down josh freeman did that crap I kno Jameis does this from time to time but overall I think he does a fantastic job of spreading the ball around to all receivers throughout the season. I would love Jameis to keep working on his pump fake I’m talking about get to Drew Brees level oh and how drew gets so many to jump offsides like you GMC. He has given a lot of penalties last 2 seasons.
April 3rd, 2016 at 12:09 pm
Joe, This premise is just as awful as a nice ice cold pint of bud light. (In fact, bud light’s only legitimate purpose is to clean your driveway.)
A second year 22 year old WR needs to rebound off a 76 catch 1206 yard season? All the while, lacking a legitimate #3 WR, a non existent TE, and your #1 going down? A rebuilt OL and a rookie QB too?
Before you bring up the drops, might I suggest your argument is with yourself?
April 3rd, 2016 at 12:13 pm
“Joe is just throwing the following speculation out there: Could it be America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, lost trust in Evans after all those drops and wouldn’t throw to him in the end zone?”
It’s a valid theory…but Jameis Winston doesn’t seem like the kind of guy that would give up on a teammate to me. More likely, he has been spending time practicing with him to help fix the problem.
At least, that’s what I THINK the Jameis Winston I’ve seen so far would do.
April 3rd, 2016 at 12:17 pm
@biff barker
You do realize it was Jeff Smith who said those things, right?
Even so, he was right. When I read the title or this article, my first instinct was to come and say “rebound from what? The kid has produced!”
But that TD stat is a bad one. I hate to admit it, but Jeff Smith was right.
Keep in mind…saying a player has to rebound is NOT saying he is a bad player. It’s just pointing out an area of concern that needs to be addressed for the benefit of the player and the team.
April 3rd, 2016 at 12:46 pm
There is an old sports cliché in all sports that applies here.
To be really good a team needs to have it’s stars be the stars. Yeah you need the backups and role players to produce but to really win you gotta get great play from your top people.
In terms of red zone receiving that would be ME and ASJ! They were drafted to produce…it’s time to get serious for these two. I’m hoping both will truly blow up their third year in the league.
April 3rd, 2016 at 1:09 pm
Stop insulting the Calgary Stampeders. Dye wouldn’t make the roster. LOL
April 3rd, 2016 at 2:32 pm
I could see us drafting a WR in the 1st round if Stanley, VH3, and Jack are gone. Not saying it’s the right move. But, we have to help Jameis first n foremost. A stud WR on both sides of the field would do that.
We could put VJax in the slot, like Fitz in Arizona. That’s if we took Treadwell. Coleman would be the slot guy if he were the pick.
April 3rd, 2016 at 4:57 pm
Admitting to drinking Bud Light is in the same neighborhood as admitting to supporting Drumpf or Cruz.
April 3rd, 2016 at 5:28 pm
Just to be fair, Bud Light is the best selling beer in America. Not saying that it tastes the best, but for light beers its probably up near the top. If your going to drink 6 or 8 of those, that is a savings of 500 calories or more. Thats important for us old guys but the problem is, you’ll just be full and maybe a little buzzed if your lucky. As for Mike Evans, I am more concerned with the stupid penalties at critical times because he is trying to be a diva. Either catch the damn ball or dont but either way shut up and walk back to the huddle and don’t hurt your team.
April 3rd, 2016 at 5:28 pm
ME 13 needs to be healthy the whole season,don’t let the defender get in his head,and limit penalties.That being said comparing Winston and Mccown td
completions is more of Mccown’s experience to put the ball out in front of Evans in stride.One of the few things he did reasonably well that year.
this is an area Koetter has said Winston needs to improve on.the way that
Jameis has grown exponentially it will probably happen soon.
here is a real good read and analysis of how Jameis and Evans can make each ohttp://www.sportsonearth.com/article/159852902/jameis-winston-mike-evans-relationship-tampather better
April 3rd, 2016 at 5:30 pm
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/159852902/jameis-winston-mike-evans-relationship-tampa
April 3rd, 2016 at 8:35 pm
forgot that mike glennon played in 6 games and had 10 touchdowns.Mccown played in 10 games and had 11 touchdowns.so both of them had a hand in the 12 tochdowns in 2014.
April 4th, 2016 at 2:32 am
Good story Bob Valrico…and good film on Mike and Jameis..
April 4th, 2016 at 5:42 am
@lifeofa bucfan
yes its a well thought out article and the video analysis is on point.
April 4th, 2016 at 7:43 am
That was a great article Bob thanks for that and thank you Joe for letting the link stay up.