Biggest Impact: Mike Evans
June 29th, 2014
An ESPN scribe believes Bucs WR Mike Evans will have a big impact.
It seemed Lovie Smith was determined to overhaul the Bucs passing game when he took over, signing quarterback Josh McCown and jettisoning mattress-in-the-yard, blade-in-the-thigh wide receiver Mike Williams. It wasn’t too obvious the Bucs needed fresh blood in the NFL’s worst offense; that’s for sure.
Then Tampa Bay selected Mike Evans seventh overall and Bucs general manager Jason Licht quickly dubbed the receiving corps the “Dunkaneers,” before comparing Evans to Godzilla in rookie camp. Joe doffed his cap to Licht’s pop culture awareness, as that same week the movie “Godzilla” debuted in theaters.
In a discussion about NFC South topics, Vaughn McClure of ESPN believes Evans will have the biggest impact of all rookies in the division.
Tampa Bay receiver Mike Evans should get plenty of chances to show he was worthy of a top-10 selection. His size (6-5, 230 pounds) is enough to give opponents fits. Having a proven big receiver such as Vincent Jackson on the other side should help Evans make a smooth transition. Josh McCown is a smart quarterback who won’t put Evans in bad situations. And Lovie Smith is the right head coach in terms of helping a rookie adjust to new surroundings. Evans has to overcome some of the knocks on him, including that he’s too stiff and doesn’t have great speed. It still will be hard to match up against him one-on-one, though, because the former basketball player will win the jump balls. And he has already impressed coaches with his range.
Pardon Joe if he thinks this jumpball talk is a little lazy. So the Bucs (McCown?) are just going to heave the ball up in the air on every throw as if every pass is a Hail Mary? Of course Evans should be able to win most jump balls, but not every pass is going to be tossed in the air like an alley-oop pass.
It’s almost like some believe Evans isn’t going to run routes, that he is just going to play backyard football on every passing play. The NFL isn’t that simple, folks.
June 29th, 2014 at 4:18 pm
I dont think anyone ever said that all they expect the bucs to do is just play jump ball all day. Vincent jackson is an excellent route runner along with the other veteran receiver aquisitions. Martin and sims will be great running the ball and simms catching passes just adds to the headache for defenses. Oh yeah then there are the two promising young pass catching tight ends. Thats all excluding evans. He will have plenty of time to add polish. I think his ability to win jump ball matchups is huge for us….but that doesnt mean that is all our offense is going to do does it??? In my opinion at this point there is much more reason to be optomistic about our offense than there is reason for concern….considering where this team has been in that category in recent years things are looking nothing but up…..just my take
June 29th, 2014 at 4:34 pm
Muscle Ball.. rather than jump ball
June 29th, 2014 at 4:41 pm
The Cleveland back-up QB threw some many ducks at A&M that Evans had to win jump balls. I hate to wish time away, but this off-season is killing me.
June 29th, 2014 at 5:01 pm
He’s new meat rookie. Once he gets comfortable, we may see greatness.
June 29th, 2014 at 5:01 pm
This kid is super talented, and an absolutely fierce competitor. He’s brand new to football, and has probably never had any real coaching. Now he’s got some of the best coaches in the world and one of the games very best next to him in the meeting room.
if he’s got the mental capacity, he should be just fine.
June 29th, 2014 at 5:15 pm
Johnny cell phone money prop made a darn good college career out of throwing into triple coverage and having Mike Evans bail him out. Its football lets not complicate things, I don’t see any reason why McCown cant have the same success
June 29th, 2014 at 5:35 pm
If so, then isn’t that what he did for Manziel? Did Evans bail Manziel out a lot with his jump ball abilities? Is that where the media got their take on Evans? Is there any ounce of truth to that? Was it inappropriately applied to Evans because of his known basketball skills. If you really want to know just go back and watch A&M tape, and you might come away with a whole new perspective. Mike Evans is a stud! End of debate! If McCown tosses it up and Evans comes away with it, GREAT! and if they do it often, and win. Then we found a stud WR and a franchise QB. Because remember it’s not really about a QB’s skill set, and stats. It’s only about wins/losses <- sarcasm
June 29th, 2014 at 5:39 pm
It is that simple if he has the skill set just like randy moss did it’s checkers not chess when you have the physicals
June 29th, 2014 at 5:40 pm
Overall, We have more talent on offense than we ever have – the best thing about Evans – he isn’t the only show in town, as it has been so many times before.
June 29th, 2014 at 6:11 pm
@Kevin – I’m right with you.
IMO- The quicker our d gets things down the quicker we will be a problem for other teams. I also believe the unknown of our offense is a plus for us. We have so many weapons that things can get chaotic for d-coordinators to come up with a game plan. All of our weapons offensively makes defenses stay honest or they can be burn. That is an advantage for Tedford. I hope I’m right. Looking forward to pre-season…
June 29th, 2014 at 6:17 pm
Many throws don’t start out to be jump balls but end up that way because the defender closes on the reciever therefore making it contested…..and, in the red zone…..many throws are jump balls…..Jackson had his share & I expect Evans witll get his….but ASJ….don’t forget him.
June 29th, 2014 at 6:48 pm
I trust that whoever throws the balls at QB, to our receivers, has enough accuracy and enough power behind the throws to hit our receivers before they are nearly still and the pass defense has caught up with them, like jump balls. Those weak armed and late throws and catches are not going to work often enough.
June 29th, 2014 at 7:02 pm
“It still will be hard to match up against him one-on-one, though, because the former basketball player will win the jump balls.”
He’ll have to if Glennon ends up starting this season. How high can a human jump?
June 29th, 2014 at 7:04 pm
I think some of the people on here who are complaining and wanted the Bucs to draft one of the top QBs are just adding the idea of them to the team (In their mind) and not subtracting the Evans or ASJ pick from the equation.
June 29th, 2014 at 7:39 pm
Stanglassman – I agree
I’m static with our draft class. Lovie & Licht have been outstanding on paper. I’m looking forward to see some great game plans too. The fans deserve it.
June 29th, 2014 at 7:45 pm
@ kevin
Great take. I wholeheartedly agree. We are looking VERY promising on offense coming into the season. I seriously don’t know how anyone is going to have a prayer of stopping us.
June 29th, 2014 at 8:49 pm
11/5 and playoff bound.
June 29th, 2014 at 8:52 pm
Go bucs!
June 29th, 2014 at 9:09 pm
Too bad Freeman is no longer around to overthrow the ball.
June 29th, 2014 at 11:47 pm
“It’s almost like some believe Evans isn’t going to run routes, that he is just going to play backyard football on every passing play. The NFL isn’t that simple, folks.”
Wasn’t this type of play that helped mold the legend of Johnny Football? And who better to clean up Evans’ route running prowess than Top-10 WR Vincent Jackson?
June 30th, 2014 at 7:15 am
MIKE EVANS=MIKE WILLIAMS 2.0
you guys need to take your pewter glasses off, 7 wins should be considered a good season, your asking for way too much from this offense.
June 30th, 2014 at 7:28 am
Evans will be nothing more than a go route guy, GOOD DB will eat his lunch,
June 30th, 2014 at 8:36 am
BOBBY C likes the D, apparently… As in male genitalia, or defense? Idk, but that take is lame. Bucs are going to the Superbowl this year. Gil Brandt & Herm Edwards are smarter than you, buddy.
June 30th, 2014 at 12:22 pm
Go route is a route haha
June 30th, 2014 at 1:04 pm
BREAKING NEWS: Bucs are not going to the Super Bowl. Bucs are taking a giant step foward into being a serious team. QB ad The Oline are Questions and during camp and this season more questions will come up and have to addressed. Depth is a issue and the team needs to play the new systems. But I could not be more excited we are at 1997 not 2002. But lets enjoy the ride once more.
July 1st, 2014 at 1:42 am
Despite having good linear speed for his size, Evans lacks short area quickness almost completely. This severely limits him as a route runner, as he struggles with stopping in each of his breaks, sinking his hips in the ground, and planting efficiently. Evans is not really a player that you can be creative with, route wise. He does not have the stop/go ability for screens/underneath routes, or the route running potential for breaking routes. He will be primarily a deep post/corner and “Go” route WR.
July 1st, 2014 at 1:44 am
Due to the lack of quickness in Evans game, he will also struggle heavily in getting open vs Off Coverage. He simply can not eat up a DB’s quickness quick enough and he is an easy target for a DB to break on in the short zone due to his lack of smooth stop/go ability.
July 1st, 2014 at 1:46 am
Despite his size and strength and obvious physicality, Evans also struggles with contact throughout the route. When pinned to the sideline, Evans had issues adjusting or tracking the ball.
comments from hankjonesscouting
July 1st, 2014 at 10:01 am
Sounds like bobby googled mike Evans and copied and pasted some scouting reports on the kid…. Come up with your own analysis
July 2nd, 2014 at 9:28 am
hey westside if you didnt notice i showed where the info came from, just trying to show you something that backed my statement up and that i was not the only one who is not sold on evans as I have said from the beginning, i have said from day one that Evans was a reach at the pick and should not have been made, so why dont you say something original or stay out of my business