Mike Evans slated for another big day
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2014 season is a lost cause, but there are still reasons to tune in and watch the remainder of the campaign. When a team is way out of contention, it becomes time to take a close look at young, key players, and there isn’t a better reason to tune in to the Bucs than to watch Mike Evans, who is living up to his lofty expectations. The 2014 NFL Draft class has the best receivers that I can remember in quite some time, and it’s not often that a hyped positional class will live up to the praise. But that’s exactly what the likes of Evans, Sammy Watkins, and Odell Beckham Jr. have done (just to name the three top-ranked wideouts who were also the three highest-picked wideouts).
Evans has been one of the hottest players in the league in the past two weeks, and he looks poised to put together a third straight 100-yard performance when the Buccaneers take on the Washington Redskins on Sunday. He already roasted Buster Skrine and the Cleveland Browns for seven receptions, 124 yards, and two TDs, and he posted similar numbers against Robert Alford and the Atlanta Falcons last week with seven catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. David Amerson and Bashaud Breeland are two promising young corners, but Evans is on a different level and will have an even easier time picking apart the Redskins safeties.
Vincent Jackson is a thoroughly impressive wide receiver, but Evans is, at the risk of jumping to an early conclusion, already just as good. He has extremely underrated long speed, an insane catch radius, top-notch physicality, and a nice understanding of how to use his size. Evans is drawing easier matchups than Jackson, but he’s still playing a whole lot better. Evans is averaging 9.4 yards per target and most of his routes have been difficult ones down the field, as he is averaging an excellent 15 yards per reception.
Despite the fact that Evans is mostly being used on routes that are beyond 15 yards, he has still displayed impressive consistency as a rookie. He has yet to catch less than four passes in a game, and he hasn’t put up less than 50 receiving yards in a game since Week 2. With 39 receptions for 585 yards, five TDs, and an average of 73.1 yards per game, Evans is on pace for 1,170 receiving yards on 78 catches with an even ten TDs to boot. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up with around 85 receptions and over 1,200 receiving yards, because he is on an absolute tear.
I have a hard time seeing the Redskins being able to contain Evans, who simply does everything you want a big receiver to do. He boxes out defenders, he owns the red zone, he makes big plays downfield, he bullies weaker defensive backs, he burns safeties who are too slow to hang with him, and he simply abuses cornerbacks that are out of his league. Evans has more upside than any of the rookie receivers in this class, and he wasn’t a raw prospect either. Things are really clicking for him, and I don’t doubt his ability to match his production in Week 9 and 10 with a big performance on Sunday.