Mike Evans Slighted
June 23rd, 2019Joe is of the mind Mike Evans is a top-four wide receiver. But it seems not everyone believes this.
Take Gary Grambling and Andy Benoit of theMMQB.com. They like Evans, but not that much. The duo put together a list of their top-10 receivers in the NFL. Evans barely made it at No. 9.
1. Julio Jones, Atlanta.
2. Antonio Brown, Oakland.
3. Odell Beckham Jr., Cleveland.
4. DeAndre Hopkins, Houston.
5. Michael Thomas.
6. Adam Thielen.
7. Keenan Allen.
8. A.J. Green.
9. Mike Evans, Tampa Bay.
10. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh.
So Adam Thielen is better than Evans? Keenan Allen, too? C’mon.
Personally, Joe believes you can flip Evans and DeAndre Hopkins on this list at No. 3 and No. 4. Hopkins is way underrated. Odell Beckham, in Joe’s mind, is way overrated. Oh, he’s good, no doubt, but wildly inconsistent. There are games where he just disappears (unless he’s using a kicking net as a sparring partner).
A.J. Green is vastly underrated, as well. Joe would put him at No. 5.
It’s hard to argue that Evans is better than Julio Jones and Antonio Brown. That’s no slight against Evans, who may be putting up Hall of Fame numbers. Jones and Brown are that good.
June 23rd, 2019 at 1:05 pm
Peter King…was the MMQB. There is no MMQB, now that King is now at NBC Sports. Not even Breer. It’s all backwash there now. Nuff said.
June 23rd, 2019 at 1:12 pm
Does anyone care what someone writes? It does not affect what they do.
June 23rd, 2019 at 1:18 pm
For one, you.
June 23rd, 2019 at 2:02 pm
It is what it is!! Keep working..keep climbing…Go Bucs Go Shuy!!
June 23rd, 2019 at 2:04 pm
If only he was hit in stride…
June 23rd, 2019 at 2:12 pm
That list is about right
June 23rd, 2019 at 2:31 pm
Mike is a top 3, easily.
June 23rd, 2019 at 2:45 pm
He is Top 6, for sure.
June 23rd, 2019 at 2:45 pm
Imagine what people would think if he had Brady or Brees throwing to him.
June 23rd, 2019 at 2:57 pm
MMQB is fake news.
Peter King is fake news.
They split apart and you have 200% more fake news.
June 23rd, 2019 at 3:06 pm
I normally don’t like getting into debates about who’s better but you can’t tell me that Adam Thielen (who is a very good player) and Keenan Allen(also very good) are ahead of Mike Evans who has played on some terrible teams. I think some just base their opinions on highlights and hype around the league.
June 23rd, 2019 at 3:21 pm
Mike Evans is making $20 mil a year for doing what he loves to do. I wonder if he REALLY cares if the MMQB mob list him at #9 or #1?
June 23rd, 2019 at 3:27 pm
1. Julio Jones
2. Antonio Brown
3. DeAndre Hopkins
4. Mike Evans
5. Odell Beckham Jr
6. A.J. Green
7. Davante Adams
8. Keenan Allen
9. JuJu Smith-Schuster
10. Michael Thomas
There’s my top 10, not that anyone cares.
June 23rd, 2019 at 3:46 pm
There is probably a close space between many of those the list, too close to measure. Evans isn’t great in YAC, and that’s a lot on Winston, who has a bit of an accuracy problem. But I’d say is what gave Johnny Manziel his high grades coming out of college.
June 23rd, 2019 at 4:01 pm
I love Mike Evans he’s a beast. But I wish he’d quit looking for the soft spot to land and going out of bounds on his own. I’m sure I’ll get bashed for this but if you watch some of his highlights you’ll see what I’m talking about. Hopkins, AB and Odell get the ball and want to score and go for it. Granted some of Mike’s lack of YAC is on Winston but there’s plenty of times where Mike goes out or just lays down after the catch. If he stops that he’d easily be the best in the league.
June 23rd, 2019 at 4:12 pm
EVANS IS THE MAN
Bucs get NO RESPECT FROM MEDIA
Media people are followers will write similar to everyone else
They write to the large group of Fans
Tampa is a small market
Anyone who thinks Mike Evans is not too 5 is a sports idiot
June 23rd, 2019 at 4:12 pm
Julio Jones and Antonio Brown are both 30 yrs old
Atlanta and Oakland would be happy to trade for Mike Evans straight up.
Beckham is talented, but is much smaller than Evans and has prime time reputation more than anything.
As for the rest of the list… seriously??
June 23rd, 2019 at 4:21 pm
I agree with you joe he’s deff better than Adam an Allen they both are still very good players but not better than ME13. Obj has better moves than 13 but 13 can go up an get the ball at any point. Brown has the moves an has bin doing it longer than 13 but same thing 13 can go up an get the ball brown can’t an Jones is in a league of his own dude is a freak of nature
June 23rd, 2019 at 4:47 pm
I love Mike but the key to each receiver ahead of him is YAC which he gets very little of. My list would be:
1. AB
2. DeAndre Hopkins
3. Julio Jones
4. OBJ (can’t stand him but with the ball in his hands he’s electric)
5. Evans
June 23rd, 2019 at 4:52 pm
I’ll take Evans over Hopkins
Houston has very little else in the way of receivers.
If Evans had Hopkins’ targets, he’d have over 1800 yds.
Of course, one could argue that because Bucs have so many weapons , it helps Evans
June 23rd, 2019 at 4:52 pm
YAC are important no doubt
But a receiver has to make the tough catches the ones in traffic
And not be afraid to get hit
Catch
Be tough
YAC
That’s what I think makes a great receiver
June 23rd, 2019 at 5:39 pm
I don’t take mmqb or pff seriously. Two pom-pom NFL barely news outfits. King used to be good but let commercialism spoil him.
June 23rd, 2019 at 6:02 pm
Evans has a completely different game than most of the other receivers on the list. He is more of a way better version of Alshon Jeffrey, Brandon Marshall, Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens. His talents are similar except he is way better than those mentioned.
Mike is a great player but he isn’t a quick cutting receiver that beats defenders with speed or cuts but his catch radius and ability to catch high balls is incredible.
June 23rd, 2019 at 6:13 pm
How many of those recievers get they’re bells rung like Evans? Then keep the ball for the catch he’s a TRUE baller more so than many on that ignorant list. Joe is 100% correct these guys need to start real evaluations. Without the bias they have toward the team as a whole and look at the players and they’re situations more closely. This is lazy sports journalism at it’s best here.
June 23rd, 2019 at 6:22 pm
Obj made one catch has he played a full season yet
June 23rd, 2019 at 8:04 pm
OBJ is waaaaaaaaay overrated and a prima donna to boot!
Keep underestimating us though.
June 23rd, 2019 at 8:07 pm
Agree with all your rankings and reasoning Joe in the top 5. Living in (upstate) NY state I can attest that OBJ vanished in some of those Giants games that I would occasionally get forced to watch when I’d go to the bar with friends. With AB on a different team and Julio getting a little older we might even see both Hopkins and Evans rise into the top 3 WR conversation after this upcoming season is all said and done?
June 23rd, 2019 at 8:07 pm
Mike is number 3 on this list all day long. The makers of this list are biased against Mike because he has mostly played for losing teams. Also, if he played for the Giants or Cowboys he would be contending for number one every year on these dumb lists.
June 23rd, 2019 at 11:30 pm
Love Evans but he’s not top 5
Just outside of it. If Jameis could hit him in stride, and not throw behind, high or too low to him Evans numbers would be insane.
That first game in New Orleans with Fitz showed how Evans could burn guys and get YAC if given a chance
June 24th, 2019 at 4:31 am
Evans lead the NFL in YPC, that includes YAK. He was in fact ahead of the kid beater Hill in fact. Those talking about YAK don’t seem to have looked at the numbers. Evans makes yards the hard way, meaning getting downfield and then fighting for deep passes. That’s much more impressive than catching a 5 yard pass, getting some blocks, and just running forward.
June 24th, 2019 at 7:46 am
Harry in Costa Rica Says:
June 22nd, 2019 at 7:13 am
7) Julio Jones, 12) Odell Beckham, 14) Michael Thomas, 15) Antonio Brown, 24) Tyreek Hill, 31) AJ Green, 45) JuJu Smith-Schuster, 57) Davante Adams, 65) TY Hilton, 73) Keenan Allen, 84) Adam Thielen
86) Mike Evans, seriously?!?!
I don’t care how bad the team is, this is a joke. ME is usually in the conversation with the best in the game, to not have him in the top 25 is BS
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NFL Network ranked ME even lower – #12 according to their list. I was surprised the Joes did not comment on this yesterday. Total BS
June 24th, 2019 at 8:11 am
Think about it Joe….he has a recently graded 27th ranked QB throwing him the ball. Evans would have half the catches if he were the same height as Thielen. JW throws him errant jump balls 75% of the time, which pads his and JWs stats.
June 24th, 2019 at 10:25 am
Julio Jones?
No, sorry. Did anyone see him last year?
He’s still top 10 but he’s slipping. And will continue to do so now that he’s 30.
June 25th, 2019 at 3:09 pm
So Adam Thielen is better than Evans?
^^^Um… YES. Have you watching Thielen play? Dood doesn’t disappear with the game is on the line, he steps up and makes plays when they count not be the hero on garbage time stats.