Mike Evans And The Red Zone
July 23rd, 2018
Big Mike Evans fan.
Interesting discussion that got Joe thinking even more.
Last week on “NFL Live,” seen on BSPN, a topic discussed was who the best 50/50 receiver is, meaning what receiver is best at hauling in a catch from a high pass battling a cornerback one-on-one.
Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian didn’t hesitate. He said he would grab Bucs receiver Mike Evans in a heartbeat.
“Oh, I would take Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the very reason that it is a rebound and he was an outstanding [high school] basketball player,” Polian said. “Like rebounders he has really good timing. He has great length. And he has got very strong hands. He can go up there, control the ball and take it away from the DB.
“He has all the qualities you need. And he makes a living doing it. It is the best thing that he does. Jameis doesn’t have to be real accurate with the ball. Get it up there and he will get it off the backboard.”
Joe doesn’t disagree with a word Polian said. In fact, Polian may have omitted Evans’ feet. Dude might have the best feet of any wide receiver. It’s been a long time since Joe has seen a receiver get his feet down in bounds on so many plays along the sidelines like Evans does.
This all, however, got Joe thinking. Just why was the red zone offense of the Bucs so difficult to execute last year? Shoot, the way Evans can grab high passes thrown to him as Polian explained, one would think it is a no-brainer to throw to Evans in the end zone.
July 23rd, 2018 at 1:08 pm
“Jameis looking left. He throws it towards the back corner of the end zone… Too tall for Mike Evans.”
July 23rd, 2018 at 1:20 pm
Defenses were double teaming Evans in the end zone quite a bit last year for one thing so that’s not one-on-one 50/50 – and Winston was throwing to him a lot anyway. Gotta find the open man for scores more often then that will draw extra coverage off Evans.
Of course – the threat of a rushing TD would certainly help quite a bit wouldn’t it?
If the Oline and running game are “fixed” – this offense is going to score a lot more points than they have the past 3 years under Koetter’s system.
July 23rd, 2018 at 1:25 pm
first down Tampa go watch highlights week 15 vs Atlanta last year of jameis. Dude can be special we he elimates the 3-4 bone headed plays he seems to do. But if he doesn’t eliminate those 3-4 plays I would believe they would bring in another coach to see if he can coach him up better. Before they would just release or trade him with only koetter being his offensive coordinator. I think they would want to see if it was more of a koetter coaching issue versus jameis not learning issue.
July 23rd, 2018 at 2:03 pm
Pickgrin
Exactly.
July 23rd, 2018 at 2:39 pm
In a breakdown of the red zone I read; we actually targeted Evans a ton in the red zone and it was super inefficient.
Not sure why that was exactly. Fade routes to him should be higher % than what we converted.
July 23rd, 2018 at 2:56 pm
Tony toe tap lol come on joe.
July 23rd, 2018 at 3:41 pm
Another weak spot in Jameis Winston’s game perhaps? Think how many “high balls” to Mike Evans were “off target” just enough that Evans couldn’t get his hands on them.
July 23rd, 2018 at 3:54 pm
c’mon dirk…it aint that hard…..we have 3 6’5 targets….use one as a decoy(mike) and get creative with the other 2….and you have a 6’4 230 pound QB that can get you 5-7 yards on a bootleg…..
like I tell my brothers….im tired of holding hands!!!!!….I cant do your job and be a fan too!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!
July 23rd, 2018 at 4:44 pm
I think that Jameis didn’t have any patience on those throws to ME, sometimes they seem to forget, that Brate and OJ are solid targets up in the air as well. Then there are the times when you were like what in the … is Dirk calling, it was a combination of Jameis, Dirk and a few dropped balls in the end zone as well last year.
Joe, BTW, Antonio Brown has the best feet, but ME is a close second.