Lay Off Mike Evans
November 28th, 2017
Taking shots
Man, the rage tossed at Mike Evans on Sunday and Monday was really over the top.
Joe read it here in the comments and heard it all over local sports radio.
There was anger because Evans didn’t squeeze the opening-drive ball thrown to him in the back of the end zone. Falcons stud cornerback Desmond Trufant was right with him and appeared to get a hand in to tip the ball. If you watch the play, you’ll see the ball pop up as the play breaks up, apparently from it hitting the back of Trufant’s hand.
And then late in the first-half, Evans had an even more hotly contested catch that he didn’t squeeze in the end zone.
Both drives ended in a field goal.
Joe has heard fans and media bark about how Evans has to catch both those balls or at least one. And many are questioning whether Evans is worth a big contract after his fifth-year option on is rookie deal expires after the 2018 season.
First, Joe reviewed both the TV and coaches’ film copies of those plays and those are brutally tough catches and can’t be blamed on Evans. Sure, you could argue that Evans wasn’t aggressive enough to the football, but that’s a tough argument.
Evans is not the problem with the Bucs and he’s on pace for 76 catches for 1,047 yards and six touchdowns. That’s a down year by the standards set by 24-year-old Evans, but it’s still productive.
Has Evans improved this season? No. Has a he regressed a bit? A little, especially considering DeSean Jackson is on the field. But Evans still is averaging the same 13.8 yards per catch he did last year and he’s on his way to his fourth consecutive season of 1,000+ yards to start his career, which puts him in elite NFL company.
If you feel compelled to fire a bunch of hate on the Bucs, Evans is the wrong target.
Not every player can be a Hall of Famer just because fans expect it.
November 28th, 2017 at 10:03 am
Mike Evans is a lethal weapon. He and Howard should be BUCS for Life!!!
November 28th, 2017 at 10:12 am
Tampa Bay fans are morons. It’s as simple as that!
November 28th, 2017 at 10:22 am
The first play wasn’t on Mike. Trufant got away with a bit of a push but he Definitely got his arm in between Mikes on the throw. If Mike had targeted the ball with just his Right hand and one handed it then Maybe………..
November 28th, 2017 at 10:26 am
If he had a top 10 qb throwing to him…
Wow
November 28th, 2017 at 10:26 am
apparently we don’t know what pass interference looks like lol
November 28th, 2017 at 10:28 am
Me13 is a solid receiver with a case of dropsies. I truly believe me13 is playing injured all year and it’s obvious. So yea he is toughing it out. Me13 will be healthy and beastly again
November 28th, 2017 at 10:37 am
I like when jw targets me13 the majority of passes. Our offense look like a top 5 offense when that happens and it opens everyone up. We got away from that cuz djx wanted the ball too and the offense since then took a huge step back. Djx is not 1 or 2. Teams take his speed out of the game (see jw overthrows) and now djx is a possession receiver at this point.
November 28th, 2017 at 10:42 am
Sorry ME13 is having a terrible year by his standards and deserves criticism. Catch the ball (Trufant did not touch that ball btw). And stop looking for a place to fall after. Get some YAC! You are 230lbs!! Run over a DB or stiff arm a safety. Do something besides fall down.
November 28th, 2017 at 10:45 am
Just imagine what the offense would be like if Mike Evans was not on this team? I would still like to see another tall WR with speed as another option? Maybe trade one of our stud TE’s for one?
November 28th, 2017 at 10:46 am
He put a target on his back when knelt for the National Anthem again this season. Not a smart thing to in a military town like Tampa. And, he’s a captain. Perfection would not be enough now
November 28th, 2017 at 10:47 am
I thought he should’ve caught the one in the end zone….mike is a special talent but if he wants that elite money and be considered elite, he has to make those tough nearly impossible catches like AB84….he’s too big to have trufant challenging him for jump balls…..GO BUCS!!!
November 28th, 2017 at 10:47 am
No doubt, ME13 was the best player on our roster last Sunday. We lost and so it is common for some of the ‘fans’ to make the best player the target of their disappointment. Just ask JW3…
The real fans stand with Mike!
November 28th, 2017 at 10:53 am
German buc
Ur right altough I know me13 has dropsies but that’s far and away a non issue. Like jw overthrows are complete non issues to me. He is 23. Me is 24.
Vetearn players should be getting the critizism. Not the kids. Guys like gmc,grimes,ward,djx etc. Should be questioned. How could guys been playing 100 plus games get their azzes handed to them week in and week out? But we target the young guys like dummies
November 28th, 2017 at 10:53 am
Browns currently are in line for the 1st and 7th picks in the draft. I say trade GMC to them after the season for the 7th pick and a 4th. Replace him in the draft and gain an extra pick or so.
I love GMC, but we’re wasting him here.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:10 am
No team on the planet would offer the 7th pick in the draft for McCoy…I guess you do write fiction/fantasy for a living. 🙂
November 28th, 2017 at 11:12 am
The thing with Mike Evans is, he was voted a captain but has some of the worst body language I’ve ever seen. Literally EVERY single pass thrown his way he begs for a flag to be thrown. Just play the game. I think Ian Beckles said it best…you can’t have a bunch of 23/24 year old kids leading your team.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:21 am
Most of us…including our Buc Fan Idol Ira…believed Mike Evans was goung to “take the next step”. Perhaps even become a peer to Julio Jones. Not quite as we found out. Evans is very good…but falls down untouched more often than Michael Pittman did.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:22 am
The problem is that Evans is not playing up to his potential. I thought the guy was an elite receiver? You don’t make excuses for elite players. You expect them to make plays when they get the chance. That’s what makes them elite.
Mike is underperforming. Sorry Joe your wrong, it’s not about mere yards with a receiver in Mike Evans class it’s about game changing ability and Mike is simply not providing.
Fans should expect more from Evans because we know he’s capable
November 28th, 2017 at 11:24 am
Dude is dealing with a new QB, he is always double teamed with the best corner–cut him slack–stupid idea to trade him–we should trade DJax and McCoy as both are getting older and are expensive. We need a nasty mindset on dline like aaron donald type player.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:28 am
@fire……those are excuses. Elite players don’t get the liberty of excuses. And honestly the double team/best corner excuse is pathetic. Mike gets no different treatment then any other #1 in the entire league.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:42 am
@jimmy
I agree….GB doubled AB84 and he still made catch after catch….tough ones too!!!….look at what JJ11 did….h3ll look at d.hopkins from the Texans last night….they doubled him, held him, interfered with him and he still caught pass after pass….
its starting to become the common theme under this staff….good young players regressing or not progressing as expected under this staff….GO BUCS!!!
November 28th, 2017 at 11:46 am
Mike had Trufant beat from the start on that fourth and two play.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:48 am
@813 exactly……..Those criticizing Mike Evans are just comparing him to the true greats in the league. I don’t understand exactly why we should be lowering our standards……..I don’t see anybody on this site saying Evans isn’t a top tier receiver. If we want to consider the guy elite then we need to expect him to play like it…….and no, that doesn’t mean 1000 yards. That notion is pathetic.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:52 am
Like many on offense, he’s being under-utilized. Does he make mistakes, yea. He’s nowhere near the KY drop-machine he was 2 years ago.
He’s the best WR on the roster. I wonder if Atlanta would have a problem featuring Mike?! Call plays that get the ball in the hands of your best players. This is NOT rocket science!!!
November 28th, 2017 at 11:54 am
Bonzai: only person who would make that trade is the Dom e.g. Revis trade.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:03 pm
ME13 and godwin should be our 1 and 2 with djax in the slot its a simple mistake of wrong scheming by koetter and company i used to think koetter may be an offensive whiz lately not so much he seems to not be able to utilize our skill players in the right way to succeed just like lovie did with the defense koetter is expecting our players to work in his scheme when he should be scheming our players the right way to succeed i think we would be much more deadly with djax in the slot and ME13 and godwin on the outsides and sorry i love cam brate but howard should be the primary receiving TE in this offense not cam and in blocking situations cam should sit and OJ and stocker should be blocking
November 28th, 2017 at 12:06 pm
He is back to looking to the official for a flag every non catch …. again . He has digressed . Plus he has a sophomoric attitude . How the heck he made captain is a joke ! He is a possession receiver and not worth the big dollars . Keeping players like him is the reason we have such a playoff drought and loosing record the last nine pathetic years !
November 28th, 2017 at 12:15 pm
ME13 is at the bottom of the list of issues with this team but he’s capable of being elite, not ordinary. Like the rest of this team, he’s playing far below his potential. Julio Jones showed what elite looks like last week.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:34 pm
Please stop already with the nonsense. First they want to run GMC out of town. This team is lacking any talent in the trenches surrounding #93 where games are won and lost. GMC is the only one putting any pressure and he is a DT and double teamed regularly. Evans is a very good receiver and they get paid well and so should he. Glazers pony up!
DJAX is a possession receiver? Really? I have now heard it all. Monday- I heard big dog blaming DJAX solely for the teams failures. I feel bad for him due to his health and give him a pass but that analysis is way off. One FA does not have the ability to implode and entire team unless they play QB – see Texans for example.
The coaches are being tuned out at this point; you can see it on the sideline especially on DEF. This experience has proven one thing and that is Koetter is a better OC than HC. The ownership needs to take some responsibility here too for his hiring. The Glazers/Licht blew it by being so far under the cap and missing the Campbell signing by not pining for him publicly.
Go Bucs!
November 28th, 2017 at 12:50 pm
@Bucamania…..I see your point but Evans is an issue right now coming off that loss. If he had made That first TD it totally changes the complexion of the entire game. HE doesn’t make the playoffs the play and follows up but missing another key reception in the end zone. IT was a big game and you need your best players to make big plays. If we can’t rely on mike it’s an issue imo
November 28th, 2017 at 1:02 pm
Many of the throws from Fitz have been arriving a split second late due to his armstrength being less than Jameis,
I saw this in both the Jets and the Miami game also.
The truth is, our receivers are being covered….it is either playcalls or routes…and I think extra attention still goes to Evans.
Does everybody remember Evans in college?. Many times he was 10 yards away from a defender so he got YAC……not now.
Our best open receiver for us so far seems to be Howard because LBs can’t match up with him.
November 28th, 2017 at 1:26 pm
No way, Joe. No way.
Evans does not get a pass.
Only an idiot would say the Bucs shouldn’t resign him long term. No person with a brain in their head doesn’t love him on this team.
But Evans has dropped a lot of balls he normally catches AND his body language out there is of a man beaten down mentally. He slumps off the field any time a drive ends. The greats don’t do that. The greats makes those catches. Look at what Antonio Brown has done over the past two weeks – those catches are the difference in games.
If Evans brings down that TD, don’t you think the entire team’s mindset would have been a little better. It was a catchable ball no matter what film you’re looking at. That’s the margin of error b/w being good and bad – it’s razor thin – and the Bucs are constantly falling on the wrong side of it.
November 28th, 2017 at 1:35 pm
I’ll just say watching the monday night game last night, the refs were calling so much pass interference and holding against the Raven’s defenders.
Yet we saw twice as much contact routinely on Sunday against Atlanta, but only got 1 call the whole game.
This is one of the biggest problems with the NFL, the consistency of officiating is beyond garbage.
Just do it equally. Either let them play physical, or don’t. But the fact that it changes so much between officiating crews is infuriating, and has been ruining the quality of the game for the last 5 years at least.
November 28th, 2017 at 1:38 pm
donuts……I agree that one free agent signing won’t implode a team but signing DJax was a complete waste of money.
We didn’t need another top tier receiver here to get us over the playoff Hump.
The Glazers gave Licht an ability to spend some money this offseason and he essientialy wasted every penny of it by completely ignoring our running game and our pash rush with it……..It was one of the most boneheaded signings I can recall. It’s also evidence that our front office doesn’t have a clue how to build a football team.
I don’t see any way that any fan can justify the Jackson signing in any way shape or form……And I’m not upset with Jackson, just upset whichever moron figured he would be any kind of an answer to anything.
November 28th, 2017 at 2:24 pm
People fail to realize drops happen…..Julio Jones!!! dropped a game winning touchdown a few weeks back
November 28th, 2017 at 2:35 pm
He does not have top end speed, hence he gets no separation no matter who’s covering him. He drops to many catch able passes, get’s hardly any YAC yards. He’ll want to be one of the highest paid receivers in the league. Pay him top dollar, like we did McCoy expect the same results, more losing.
November 28th, 2017 at 3:14 pm
Maybe Jameis throws high to Evans all the time is because he only catches the ball, while be contested, if it is above the defenders head? Cause as you can see more times than no if the ball is chest high and there is a defender around he will not catch it. Also when is the last time (ever?) you saw Evans get more than 5 yards after a catch?
November 28th, 2017 at 3:16 pm
Jameis is actually coached up to throw high to Evans.
November 28th, 2017 at 3:19 pm
Seeing a lot of this lately and it is beginning to disturb Joe. While true, geez folks, Evans is one of the better receivers in the game and is putting up NFL historic numbers. No need to nitpick. That would be like turning down a date with Rachel Watson because she is 35/22/36 and not 36/22/36.
November 28th, 2017 at 3:28 pm
It is truly amazing how many dumb fans call the Bucs their team. He is on pace to catch over 1K yards again with a journeyman back up throwing the last three gams and an injured JW for the three games prior to that. Guys always complaining about YAC as if he should run every reception to the end zone, and if he doesn’t he sucks. I will forgo the YAC and take the toe tapping 25 yard receptions with a CB draped over him and holding his jersey.
November 28th, 2017 at 3:35 pm
Trufant was being paid to play the game as well, and he showed up on that play. That was a good defnsive play using his amazing closing speed to make up for being behind Evans.
November 28th, 2017 at 3:47 pm
No sh!t!
Whenever Joe mentions on twitter Evans’ superior footwork, the mouthbreathers come after Joe, “So what? He’s supposed to catch the ball not be a ballerina.”
#Facepalm
November 28th, 2017 at 4:22 pm
Jameis is actually coached up to throw high to Evans.
Exactly because they know if anyone is near his hands he’s going to drop it. See that is the problem just because he is “the best we have had” doesn’t mean he is all that great. Have some flipping higher expectations, he was the #7 pick in the entire draft. Just like McCoy cant vanish during games or weeks cause he was the #3 pick in the draft or Jameis cant miss wide open bombs because he was the #1 pick in the draft! If our guys played up to their draft positions we would be much better so why defend them when they are a major reasons we aren’t winning games. Great players is how you get great teams and that is how you win. Do you think Antonio Brown, or Von Miller, or Matt Ryan have issues like this all the time? No and that is why they are in the playoffs almost every year!
November 28th, 2017 at 4:27 pm
You buc fans are idiots and an embarrassment.
November 28th, 2017 at 4:32 pm
Evans is great because he wins 50/50 contested balls. That is what made him great for 3 seasons. That is why he would be worth 15 mil a year. If mike isnt winning the 50/50 ball, then what else is he really providing that makes him worth 15 mil? His ability to catch a 12 yard curl in zone coverage with zero yac? I love Mike, but i also expect him to be better than he has been this season. He hasn’t been a down field threat at all this season. Basically everything has been a 13 yard curl. Anyone can do that. Any undrafted rookie can do that. I expect more from mike. And yes that includes making incredibly tough catches. That is what we pay him to do.
November 28th, 2017 at 4:44 pm
I love Evans catching balls on sidelines and his end zone grabs are a great weapon. Problem is that top end receivers are game breakers. Evans in the middle of the field catches the ball and instead of turning upfield with his head up looking to bust a tackle he is sliding down and going to the ground with no contact. He’s really good but he isn’t making the team better by avoiding contact. There are so many receivers in the league that make big plays to break the backs of teams. Mike recently is playing like his heart isn’t into it. He isn’t using his strength something is off. He’s a great 3rd down receiver to move the chains but making big plays is missing.
November 28th, 2017 at 5:28 pm
Kneel for the anthem? Please get out of here with that. This nation allows fools to fly their cunfederate flags which represents the biggest form of traitorism in this country and you people whine about him exercising his freedom of speech. Evans is the best receiver we’ve ever drafted. Julio Jones only had 2 tds before Sunday and I guarantee you didn’t hear fans crying and dumping on him like yuc fans are doing Evans. You people make us deserve being the Browns of the NFC!
November 28th, 2017 at 8:38 pm
In order to have 1000 receiving yards in a season a receiver only has to average 62.5 yards a game. That, 1000 yard seasons are not ground breaking for receivers in a pass happy league that favors the receivers. You want to see elite? A. Brown, J.Jones. Evans is going to command a contract bigger then both of them. Remember Mike Clayton? That’s what you’d be paying for. Chris Godwin could easily match Evans numbers this year if he was targeted as much as Evans. He’s under contract for 3rd round money.
November 28th, 2017 at 9:04 pm
It’s all about ME…what have you done for the team lately?
November 28th, 2017 at 10:45 pm
Mike was a top five if not top three WR last year with 1,000+ yards every year since he’s been here. ME13 is the favorite receiver of our starting QB that has been injured much of the year. If they are paying DJax 80-some mil for three years they sure as hell better give Mike a big deal.