Money Receiver
July 15th, 2018
Big time.
If you need chunks of yards, there are few better receivers in the NFL than Mike Evans.
Says who? Says Chase Stuart of FootballPerspective.com. He has gone through each of Evans’ catches last year and found that more often than not, throwing to Evans means the Bucs offense will move the chains.
On 2nd down, 14 of Evans’ 19 receptions went for first downs; of the other 5, one was a 13-yard gain on 2nd-and-15 and one was a 6-yard gain on 2nd-and-10. That leaves just three catches where Evans failed to pick up at least 60% of the necessary yards to get a first down: a 6-yard catch on a 2nd-and-15, a 4-yard catch on a 2nd-and-7 (arguably a successful play in its own right), and a 3-yard catch on a 2nd-and-10. And that was it.
And people whine about Evans’ YAC. Good grief.
Evans has racked up over 1,000 yards each of his four seasons in the league. As for his yards-per-catch, they are damned near Randy Moss numbers.
Just because Evans isn’t a burner like Antonio Brown or Julio Jones doesn’t mean he isn’t a top-shelf receiver.
July 15th, 2018 at 9:03 am
While certainly not whining about YAC on Evans, imagine how much more explosive he could be if the Bucs had a QB who was a more accurate passer than Former Face-of-the-Franchise Jameis Winston; someone who can hit him and DJax in stride. There is nothing to complain about with the squad of receivers on the Bucs overall.
July 15th, 2018 at 9:11 am
Roy
Enjoy your posts and largely agree but I pick a nit with this one.
As you know I respect Jameis on field ability but do not believe he has the common sense on the field or off to play the position successfully.
But I do not blame ME’s lack of YAC on Jameis. ME’s like a possession receiver.
How many times have we seen ME with more than a half step on a defender. That’s just not his game. He likes to post up and let Jameis toss a jump ball which ME grabs. Great for moving the chains. And his yardage and catches show that.
I suspect ME has told Jameis just get it where I can get hands on it and I’ll win the battle so Jameis has a lot of latitude…doubt they worry much about ME showing a burst of speed and beating defender like DJAX.
July 15th, 2018 at 9:15 am
Get a load of this guy ^^ lmao
July 15th, 2018 at 9:23 am
@SPBF…I agree not all of ME13’s lack of YAC is on FFF Winston…but Evans also has speed for his size and of course, so does DJax…a weapon the Bucs have not been able to use optimally. ME’s strength is his length and size for sure, which mean jump balls will be his. I just wish fewer were that way, especially ones to DJax.
July 15th, 2018 at 9:39 am
@Roy
I suspect that I agree with your basic premise. Throwing the deep ball has not been Jameis forte. lol
Again as the optimist I haven’t given up on his talent…below the neck he has a great arm…a little baseball still to work out of it…but he has the physical skill.
Upstairs though he is a true mess.
July 15th, 2018 at 9:58 am
“And people whine about Evans’ YAC. Good grief.”
Including joebucsfans writers, correction mainly joebucsfans writers. Your the ones who have to find something to complain about after a bad season to give content
July 15th, 2018 at 9:59 am
Good grief – more useless babble about YAC and “60% of the necessary yards to get a first down???”
How about lets score some freaking points and win some freaking games!
Im getting pretty tired of useless stats and comparisons by computer nerds – is it football yet???
July 15th, 2018 at 10:33 am
so glad we have this guy locked up as a Buc
July 15th, 2018 at 11:03 am
SBBF…I could handle FFF Winston’s someone slow development as a passer for a couple more years (he does put in the work) if there was any indication he’s be solid as a leader and reliable to be there when we need him, and to make others better around him. But he’s neither a leader nor reliable. Sad to say.
July 15th, 2018 at 11:23 am
He needs to work on catching the receivers in stride. I hate seeing passes that are behind the reciever.
July 15th, 2018 at 11:25 am
Roy
Sadly…even though I am optimistic I have to agree with you based on all the evidence to this point.
July 15th, 2018 at 11:51 am
Yet Winston grades out as an avg starter….Scary to think how bad he’d look if he didn’t have Evans.
July 15th, 2018 at 12:03 pm
His catch radius is phenomenal! Thank the NFL GOD for that cause he sure makes Winston’s inaccurate throws a non-issue unlike with Desean Jackson, who doesn’t have a seven foot wingspan.
July 15th, 2018 at 12:58 pm
@Bobby M, I’ve long believed Evans is what made Johnny Manziel look good.
July 15th, 2018 at 4:01 pm
None of the bucs receivers have great YAC numbers. Should tell you there its the offense thats the reason. I mean watch the games. Not many guys are gona get yac when they catch a comeback or curl or whatever route where the defense knows its coming and has 3 guys right there for the tackle. Its amazing to me they complete as many as they do.
July 15th, 2018 at 4:46 pm
Let me add this defense of Jameis. Watching the games I would see opponents with 2 or 3 steps on our DB’s.
When I watch the Bucs offense the targets are rarely that open…many times they appear covered and Fameis has to thread the needle.
I’m not saying #3 was perfect…just that he’s only a part of that problem. Some blame to receivers and some blame to Koetter for not devising plays that gave a little separation for his pass game.
July 15th, 2018 at 4:46 pm
Let me add this defense of Jameis. Watching the games I would see opponents with 2 or 3 steps on our DB’s.
When I watch the Bucs offense the targets are rarely that open…many times they appear covered and Fameis has to thread the needle.
I’m not saying #3 was perfect…just that he’s only a part of that problem. Some blame to receivers and some blame to Koetter for not devising plays that gave a little separation for his pass game.
July 15th, 2018 at 9:44 pm
Once ME gets that mental toughness down he will take his game to next level tremendous run blocker too