Further Evidence For Evans Explosion
June 25th, 2015
Numbers point to big year.
Yes, it is well established that Mike Evans is moving into an “X” receiver role and Vincent Jackson will move to where Evans played last season, the “Z.”
It could be because Jackson, 32, may be a tad slower than in his halcyon days.
The spreadsheeters over at Pro Football Focus may have dug up the reason Evans is this year’s X-man. If you believe the numbers, it seems Evans is better suited to going downfield regularly.
Mike Evans, the 2nd highest graded rookie WR, gained 55% of his 1051 yards on deep passes (20+ yards) #WinstonToEvans pic.twitter.com/WikHsyCa3d
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) June 24, 2015
Well, given Evans was a rookie, and he had limited roles when playing at Texas A&M, it could be Evans is due to blow up this year now — again, if you believe the numbers. Remember, he apparently has a competent quarterback throwing to him, not a turnover-prone machine like Josh McClown.
Joe is starting to read the tea leaves that a big part of Dirk Koetter’s offense will be targeting Evans deep and often.
June 25th, 2015 at 2:19 pm
He’s going to be a FUKN animal in this offense!
June 25th, 2015 at 2:23 pm
He’s a keeper
June 25th, 2015 at 2:29 pm
I have posted this sereval times, but seems to always apply.
I am really seeing that Evans and VJ numbers to be way down. Last year the stats were very skewed! Mostly due to injuries in TE, and being down by 2 touchdowns before the end of the 1st quarter. Most of the time the run game day plan was thrown out the window by halftime. 531 passes compared to 353 run attempts.
And the 2 huge lineman they drafted really point to trying to get a running game going this year!
June 25th, 2015 at 2:52 pm
@ bucrealist,
Outside of the Falcons and Ravens game, the bucs were in pretty much every game. I believe they had fourth quarter leads in 8 games. Just because the bucs were 2-14 does not mean they were out of the games by the end of the first. I believe your logic is somewhat skewed.
June 25th, 2015 at 3:12 pm
Last second scores doomed us in every game…we was in every game besides the falcons Thursday and Baltimore on Sunday but every game besides those two was pretty much a win until the defense collapsed week in and week out. Lovie knew it and so did licht that’s why we replace did alot of those high priced pieces and under achievers of the scheme
June 25th, 2015 at 3:20 pm
What a terrible draft pick. Light / Lovie have no idea what they are doing. I mean we were better off when we were taking guys like Barron 7th overall and trading away the 13th pick for a one year rental of Revis. This freaking regime man I tell you there is no hope.
/ end of sarcasm /
To Buc Realist – Tampa was 21st in average pass attempts per game last year. Vjax was 9th in NFL targets for WRs and Mike Evans was 24th. (142 targets & 123 targets). That means there were still 266 targets to spread to other WRs; which was not done very well.
With assumed improved offensive play we should have a lot more offensive snaps (we were bottom 2 in the league – the top 16 NFL teams were getting in like 7-10 more offensive plays each game – or over 100-160 more plays on the season) . I would also hope our yards per play is up and yards per attempt / completion as well. 3rd down conversions. etc.
Because of that I think you could actually see better numbers from Evans & Jackson with similar or even slightly less targets. The other 250-300 passes should still be plenty to get ASJ / SIms / Louis Murphy or whoever involved
June 25th, 2015 at 3:31 pm
I’m still haunted by visions of Michael Clayton’s sophomore season, but Evans certainly appears like the real deal.
I don’t know how much this “XYZ” stuff matters right now. VJax said a couple weeks ago that Koetter was moving him inbetween all 3 receiver positions pretty regularly, so we’ll see how it all shakes out
June 25th, 2015 at 6:36 pm
Lord Cornelius Has Spoken!!!! Lovin the view! Keep keepin’ it real L.C.
June 25th, 2015 at 6:52 pm
Improved offense and an eerily surprising defense could make the difference between 2-14 and taking the division!
June 25th, 2015 at 10:29 pm
Tiny Tim Says
“@ bucrealist,
Outside of the Falcons and Ravens game, the bucs were in pretty much every game. I believe they had fourth quarter leads in 8 games. Just because the bucs were 2-14 does not mean they were out of the games by the end of the first.”
There is a problem with your logic. It’s not the same offense. It’s not the same offensive line.
Believe it or not, at the start of the year the offensive line will probably look worse than the old one. Heck, 3/5s of it IS the old one! Even with the two new additions, it is going to take the rookies time to develop and gel.
Add to that the rookie QB factor, and it’s a rough thing coming.
I honestly believe the best thing the Bucs can do is focus on the run game in the beginning. It’s easier to get an offensive line to run block than pass block. Make the first improvements to the run game. Then add in the passing game a little at a time.
No way around it though…the offense won’t be pretty at first.
June 25th, 2015 at 10:31 pm
I think assuming vastly improve offensive play in the first half of the season is stretching it…vastly.
June 26th, 2015 at 11:49 am
With a competent qb and our easy schedule especially early on will seem to work all this stuff out. The confidence we will gain as the season goes will have us in the division hunt
June 26th, 2015 at 2:03 pm
@Buccaneerbonzai
I am not sure how my logic is wrong. Bucrealist stated the bucs were getting blown out most games and thats why we had 2 1000 yard receivers. My point was the bucs were only out of 2 games very early. Every game after that the bucs had a chance to win. How is my logic off? I was not talking about this years offense. I was talking about what occurred last year. Sorry I confused you.