Mike Evans Flourished With Diverse Routes
July 15th, 2024
Still dominant.
If there is one thing about former Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales’ offense that his successor Liam Coen retains, Joe hopes it is using Mike Evans in diverse routes.
Last year. Evans stated a few times when asked about the new offense under Canales that he was running routes he never ran before.
It seemed to work.
At the age of 30, when most wide receivers are getting tapped on the shoulder by Father Time, Evans had one of the best seasons.
Evans caught the third-most passes (79) in his Hall of Fame career for his third-most yards (1,255) and his third-most touchdowns receiving (13). The final number was good enough to lead the NFL.
So if Coen takes away anything from what Canales did last year, Joe sure hopes it is how Canales used Evans. What Canales did with Evans sure worked.
And Joe isn’t a believer in fixing something not broken.
Mike Evans may just have played his best football in 2023. Set multiple career-highs in #ReceptionPerception all while being wisely asked to run a more diverse route tree. pic.twitter.com/lDLNMMfXJi
— Matt Harmon (@MattHarmon_BYB) March 2, 2024
July 15th, 2024 at 8:07 am
Best WR in Bucs history and before he hangs up his cleats probably one of the best in NFL history. Mike is ALWAYS open, even when he isn’t , just throw Mike the damn ball.
July 15th, 2024 at 9:14 am
HOF
July 15th, 2024 at 9:14 am
Excellent video about Mike Evans. He is the greatest!
July 15th, 2024 at 9:19 am
Mike will go down as one of the best but to say he’s always open is a complete
farce.
With the season now at 17 the Yards per Game for 1000 is down to 59 and that is with less contact that Old School receivers had to deal with.
In five games last season he had 8,22,39,40 and 43 yards. In three games he broke out for about 150 or more.
Looks to me like some games he was more open than others.
29% of games in 2023 he was below average to 1000 yarders. !7% of the time he was Exceptional. 52% he was pretty much middle of the road.
His number’s are impressive as were his QB’s but they both need to be consistent day after day to go anywhere past a playoff win and being a couple turnovers away from a Conference Championship Game.
July 15th, 2024 at 9:28 am
AT 6-4 225 and with a all world catch radius , yes he is always open , because there is no such thing as a 50-50 ball when he is well covered , odds are 75-25 in favor of Mike due to the aforementioned immutable facts and his physicality against smaller men.
July 15th, 2024 at 10:17 am
Still not getting Joe’s age hang up with Evans.
Nearly EVERY SINGLE HOF WR hits their prime between 30-32. Here is what other HOF receivers did at age 31.
Rice – 1503
Fitz – 1215 (32)
TO – 1200
Moss – 1008
T Brown – 1408
July 15th, 2024 at 10:21 am
The biggest challenge for Mike will be the number of targets for Palmer and JMac. If those two guys develop like we hope, then maybe Mike won’t get as many targets? With Godwin playing mostly in the slot, his targets could go up like in the Packers game.
July 15th, 2024 at 12:45 pm
Nice, Sly.
July 15th, 2024 at 1:06 pm
ME’s big 10th season was more attributable to Baker looking for Mike as his 1st option on most plays than ‘creative” routes drawn up by Canales….
Brady wasn’t really looking to feature #13 like Baker was last year.
July 15th, 2024 at 2:51 pm
Getting out of Arians system likely added another few years on his career
July 16th, 2024 at 1:25 pm
@Joe —
Are there advanced stats on rate of interceptions per target for individual receivers? Might have to adjust for the quarterback. But that might tell a story about how a player is used and how effective they are in safeguarding the route. For example, would expect a slot like Godwin to have a higher gross rate but, like passes defenses for CBs, he could be above average or even exceptional in preventing turnovers.