Evans Having Break Out Year
September 29th, 2016
New data shows beginnings of a monster year.
One mission charged to Bucs offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Todd Monken when he was hired by Dirk Koetter was to fix Mike Evans.
The talented wide receiver had, for his skillset, a down year last year highlighted by way too many drops and nonsense issues like constantly barking at officials — sometimes before a thrown football got near him — letting defenders get in his head and wigging out.
Whatever Monken did with Evans sure worked. Evans may be having a Pro Bowl year. With a touchdown catch last week against Los Angeles, Evans has had a touchdown in each of the Bucs first three games, the first Bucs player to perform such a feat.
There is more. Jenna Laine of ESPN digs for data to demonstrate what a force Evans has been this young season.
Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans has 17 first downs this season, more than any other player in the league. He’s also caught 3 of 4 red zone targets this year (75 percent). Last year he caught just 2 of 13 (15.4 percent). Small sample size but noticeable improvement.
Big time improvement.
Of course, it may also have helped that Evans spent extra time working out with America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston.
In Joe’s eyes, Monken has already earned his salary for turning around Evans.
September 29th, 2016 at 8:42 am
I guess Jameis and Evans found that elusive “chemistry” Koetter talked about. And Brate and Rudy seem to have it too. Now we just need to get VJax back on track! The bucs O really looks pretty good. But the D makes stars out of QBs who were about to get benched
September 29th, 2016 at 8:47 am
Evans deserves a ton of credit for being coachable and maturing rapidly
September 29th, 2016 at 8:51 am
You go coach Monken. Evans and Humphries are making huge strides and are becoming a good duo. What a difference between the current WR coach, and the last WR coach who now has a desk job.
September 29th, 2016 at 8:55 am
Just curious, but we heard stories all summer about Mike Evans and Jameis working out together. I don’t recall hearing a single story about Jameis and VJAX working out together. One of the big stories through the first 3 games is Jameis and VJAX not being on the same page, and not having their timing down. I just wonder if this is part of the reason for that.
September 29th, 2016 at 9:00 am
Evans deserves all the credit, he is right where he should be, he is a young guy with enough brains to know that he wants what this league has to offer and he now knows he wants to leave his stamp on it but he needs help as in a wide out with speed that can catch the damn ball!
September 29th, 2016 at 9:17 am
It will be interesting, as teams will stop focusing on stopping the run to braketing ME13, and how the offense will adjust to other opportunities for offense!!! In fact we might here how ME13 alone is opening up check downs and the run game!!!!
September 29th, 2016 at 9:18 am
Aquib Talib on Mike Evans…………….
“With receivers, man, there’s some guys — you either have a huge catch radius or you don’t,” Talib said. “That’s nothing you can learn in the NFL. I’m sure if you go watch Evans’ tape from seventh or eighth grade, I bet he was doing the same thing — catching jump balls and running past people, catching deep balls. It’s just that catch radius that makes him special.”
…………………………
Guess he doesn’t realize Mike didn’t play Football til he was a Sr. in HS
September 29th, 2016 at 9:33 am
He needs so many more rd zone targets, probably the main reason we have struggled so much down there the last two years. He’s been our best player this year by far IMO. Great bounce back from last year so far (physically and emotionally) even if his yards last year say otherwise.
September 29th, 2016 at 9:34 am
So what is Monken going to do with Vincent Jackson?
September 29th, 2016 at 9:51 am
He is so physically talented, big and fast. He’s difficult for any defense to deal with.
September 29th, 2016 at 10:26 am
It could be that Evans’ personal life is settling down now that he’s established and married.
September 29th, 2016 at 10:57 am
Having a great season so far. Too bad we didn’t get him help in the second round, could you imagine a speedy 4.3 guy on the other side pulling coverage instead of VJax?!
September 29th, 2016 at 11:13 am
If we can get the run blocking a bit better and the defense on the same page, this team could actually be scary good.
More than anything, I hope we progress so we can keep this coaching staff intact for a few years. Imagine how much these you guys can develop and progress under the same system for a few years together?
Just speaking offensively, we have Jameis, Evans, Sims, Marpet, and D. Smith who are only in their 2nd or 3rd year in the league. Quite a strong group of players to have grow together for years to come.
September 29th, 2016 at 11:14 am
*these young guys
September 29th, 2016 at 11:16 am
mike evans has done a great job this year in the mental part of the game as well as physical…hats off to him…keep it up…GO BUCS!!!!
September 29th, 2016 at 12:21 pm
Just a big physical presence on the field that gets open and has good hands. I love watching him play like the Hulk out there. If I was Jameis I would have a hard time wanting to throw to anybody else out there.
Such a beast.
September 29th, 2016 at 12:21 pm
You bucs fan if you actually think about it a lot of people didn’t want roddy white but we already have roddy white on this team. His name is Vincent Jackson
September 29th, 2016 at 12:22 pm
Meant to say ” You know what “
September 29th, 2016 at 1:29 pm
If we just had playmakers like Evans in our secondary we would be a good team. We STILL need at least one DE, CB, and safety that can make plays for our defense before things will change. ALL the talent on this team is on the offensive side of the ball, AND we all know defense WINS Championships. I wonder how many more years it will take to get the players we need.
September 30th, 2016 at 1:58 am
The greatest receiver in the NFL has arrived. At this pace ME13 will produce somewhere between 1,600 and 1,800 yards and 18 TD. 17 first downs this season, more than any other player in the league and that he caught 3 of 4 red zone targets this year (75 percent). More to come.