Mike Evans Adjusting To Adjusting
December 16th, 2015
Last year, Mike Evans was tremendous as a rookie, one of the better receivers in the NFL.
Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht was lauded for the coup. No one grumbled about Odell Beckham. No one.
A year later, Evans, for the most part, is a shell of himself. He has made a name much more for dropped passes and bellyaching to officials than for making spectacular touchdown catches, and that’s a shame.
Fans are already griping that Licht picked the wrong receiver.
Yesterday, Bucs offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter seemed to sympathize with what Evans is going through, a struggle in his second NFL year.
“One thing I would just say is Mike came on to the scene last year as a rookie, Vincent Jackson playing on the other side,” Koetter explained, “I think people game-plan for Mike a lot more than maybe they did last year. Mike is drawing more double-teams than perhaps he did last year. Mike still has high 800s in yards. He’s still probably going to go over 1,000 yards, unless something bad happens.
“I would just say, more than anything, defenses are probably more aware of him and growing pains with a rookie quarterback, and we’re running the ball more. We’re running the ball more, last year they threw it a little more. We’re running the ball more and probably more successfully than they did last year.”
This is life in the NFL. If, as a rookie, you show success, defensive coordinators of other teams — they get paid, too — have all offseason to devise schemes to take you our of your game.
Welcome to NFL reality, Mike.
But as has been well-documented, Evans does himself no favors by his (many) drops, his constant barking at zebras and what often appears to be more interest in drawing a flag than selling out for a catch.
If Evans starts paying more attention to his main task — catching — rather than the other nonsense, he will do himself a lot of good.
December 16th, 2015 at 8:51 am
All I hear is wxcuaea when it comes to Evans. Dude needs to just to catch the ball and do his job
December 16th, 2015 at 8:54 am
“If Evans starts paying more attention to his main task — catching — rather than the other nonsense, he will do himself a lot of good.”
When thinking TEAM FIRST all falls in place.
1. That creates good relationship with the second team playing agaisnt you at times- The Zebras.
2. You put greater effort to reach the same goal hopefully the rest of the team is trying to reach- Wins.
Winston is teaching him about MATURITY.
December 16th, 2015 at 8:58 am
Well what do we expect when the guy went to college with the one and only…
….everybody now:
JOHNNY FOOTBALL!!!!!
Winston will reel him back to reality – THE TEAM
December 16th, 2015 at 8:58 am
Not buying the Defense game planning for him more being the reason for this years decline. Dude is dropping open, catchable passes. It’s not like coverages are shutting him down from any opportunities. He just needs to get out of his own head. I think he’ll be fine. He just needs to mature a little on the football field. DB’s know that he’s mentally weak right now. They talk smack to him and it completely throws him off his game.
December 16th, 2015 at 9:44 am
Can’t separate in Man. 1 route in man is a fly 50/50 ball. You want to take our receivers out of the game? Play man. We have no short area quickness on offense. Re watch every game . Rarely if ever do 3 step drops. Even when Saitns were 7 yards off WR no quick slants because our receivers get beat to the spot more often then not.
December 16th, 2015 at 9:45 am
He also needs to keep his temper in check and mature.
December 16th, 2015 at 9:47 am
when certain guys like OBJ have record setting success at the start of their careers, people forget what normal looks like. it’s long been accepted that year 3 is the traditional breakout year for WRs and mike evans is not necessarily behind schedule. last year as a rookie, he was mostly running downfield and snaring jump balls, winning with his freakish athleticism. this year, he is trying to incorporate better route running, playing more positions, and how to beat your coverage guy, among other things. he’s processing alot more info and obviously trying to build up his game, so he’s not thinking solely about the catch yet. let’s give him some time to get more instinctive with the stuff he is working on this year and the focus on holding onto the ball will come more easily by next season
December 16th, 2015 at 9:49 am
Here we go the same bs excuses that McCoy uses. Every good player gets double teamed or game planned for. The difference is the great ones over come it. Do these people think we are so stupid that we don’t realize O’Dell gets game planned for? I mean really that team has nothing but him to worry about and he’s still killing it. And JJ Watt no they don’t double him he just gets single blocked every play. Come on quit with the excuses, Evans and McCoy are average players and can’t rise to the occasion. Let’s face it we are stuck with two players that are supposed to be great but clearly are not! Jameis had to over come a lot with this team as the only elite football players on this team are Jameis, LVD, and maybe Kwon and Marpet. Other than that we my friends need to upgrade. Evans wood be a great#2 receiver but he IS NOT a number 1! McCoy is not a leader, does not step up when matters and collects meaningless stats. I want so desperately for these guys to be great but they prove week after week they just are average.
December 16th, 2015 at 9:54 am
I’ve noticed that when Evans does manage to draw a pass interference call, he celebrates and is congratulated by teammates as though that were the goal. I can’t help but wonder if part of his game plan is specifically trying to draw PI calls and running good routes, beating his man and catching the ball is a much smaller part of the focus than we realize. If you get a PI, you should not be congratulated. You didn’t do anything to get it. At least, you shouldn’t have. You should have been going for the ball as hard as you could and the defender prevented you from getting it.
December 16th, 2015 at 9:57 am
i chuckle a bit with this whole “mike evans is not a #1 WR” business. if the guy simply held onto the ball he might have over 1,200 yards and at least a half dozen TDs. and that’s not counting a couple hundred yards of pass interference yardage he has drawn. we have seen that he’s a couple drops away. drops are fixable (not guaranteed to be fixed, but more fixable than being small or slow), and if he gets past the drops that seems like the resume of not just a #1 WR caliber player but potentially the best WR to every throw on a bucs jersey
December 16th, 2015 at 9:58 am
*”if the guy simply held onto the ball he might have over 1,200 yards and at least a half dozen TDs”….with 3 games to go
December 16th, 2015 at 10:05 am
@pick6 – If Trent Richardson broke some tackles and found a running lane then he’d be a good running back. If Tim Tebow could throw the ball well then he’d be a good quarterback. You can’t say that someone would be great if they could just learn how to do the primary thing that their job is based around. Evans is a wide receiver that cannot receive a ball that hits him in the hands. You are what your record says you are and Evans’ record says he drops very catchable balls.
December 16th, 2015 at 10:18 am
He’s just having a sophomore slump. He can still make outstanding plays. When he fails to do that, then I’ll be worried. Hopefully this is a wake up call for him, and he comes back next season a better man, player, and teammate.
December 16th, 2015 at 10:25 am
Pick6 if I was 6’4 240 then I would be playing QB in the league, but guess what I’m not.
December 16th, 2015 at 10:57 am
Sad when the coaches are now making excuses for him. Mrs Evans needs to grow a pair and man up. Wasted pick. Same for ASJ.
December 16th, 2015 at 12:59 pm
I blame basketball
December 16th, 2015 at 2:25 pm
catching the ball is the most visible and obvious part of the job, but there are a dozen things you have to do right to get open and be where your QB expects you to be. all i’m saying is that i believe mike is still putting all that together and it is taking away from his concentration on catching the ball. i have no doubt that he will work as hard on his drops this offseason as he worked with Randy Moss and a bunch of current NFL players last offseason on getting separation. i think that writing mike evans off is short-sighted. look, if we did a re-draft i’m drafting odell, but i do think that we’ve got a #1 wideout and pro bowl talent in the very near future in mike evans
December 16th, 2015 at 2:30 pm
he’s a 22 year old, second-year wideout who was introduced to football relatively late in his youth. it’s kind of surprising how many people have given up on the idea of him becoming better than what he is right now.
December 16th, 2015 at 4:26 pm
But he sux pick6…. Period. I had a party at my crib to watch my bucs against the Giants… Mike can get open, he just can’t catch… Killed the whole day! Instead of watching my bucs ascend I had to hear about why mike Evans can’t catch?! He sux… Dude I’m in ny I’m literally watching o’dell and Brandon marshal will their teams forward
ME13 and built like that
December 16th, 2015 at 4:31 pm
NO, IT WAS JUST MIKE NOT CATCHING THE BALL !!! CAN’T HAPPIN’ AND EXPECT TO WIN!!! FIRE LOVIE , IT WILL BE THE SAME NEXT YEAR AS IT WAS IN CHICAGO !!!
December 17th, 2015 at 7:56 am
Evans simply is a slacker IMHO. He lacks focus on certain plays…. Reminds a lot of a Cleveland Brown who was drafted in the top 3 about a decade ago: Braylon edwards….