King Of Third Downs
November 28th, 2016
Chains-mover.
Joe hopes to have started a trend.
The Bucs on defense the past couple of weeks, and on offense last week, have been so dominant on third downs, Joe has begun calling third downs “Bucs down.” It seems of late, the Bucs thrive on third downs and it’s a big reason why the Bucs have been rolling.
However, there is no Bucs player that produces on third downs quite like Mike Evans. In fact, Evans, who should be in the Pro Bowl in January, is the NFL’s biggest producer on third downs for wide receivers.
No less of an authority than JoeBucsFan.com columnist and Custodian of Canton eye-RAH! Kaufman delivers the mail.
@IKaufman76: How dominant has Mike Evans been? He has generated 62 first downs in 73 catches. Antonio Brown’s a distant 2nd among WRs with 50 first downs
That, friends, is what Joe calls “money.”
The fact that a catch by Evans is a virtual first down, Evans just may be the MVP of the Bucs offense, even with America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, driving the bus.
November 28th, 2016 at 1:02 pm
Do you mean All Pro?
November 28th, 2016 at 1:06 pm
Nobody is better than Evans right now.
November 28th, 2016 at 1:07 pm
He’s gotta make all pro….him and Julio
November 28th, 2016 at 1:08 pm
Like I’ve said 100x. Mike is the best WR the Bucs have ever or will ever have. He’s this generations Randy Moss. I love love love me some Mikey Evans. The only thing I would ask him is – what’s up with the Yac yards brother?
November 28th, 2016 at 1:13 pm
@DB55 – The YAC yards is why he’s not the Randy Moss of this generation. He doesn’t have that kind of speed.
November 28th, 2016 at 1:15 pm
Patrick
You might be right. I think he faster than he gets credit for but I might just be delusional as I’m a huge fan of his. I still like the analogy though Moss 2.0.
November 28th, 2016 at 1:17 pm
Patrick
I see him catch the ball and immediately go to the ground. Idk why he does that but that’s my reason for the lack of yac yards.
November 28th, 2016 at 1:18 pm
DB55 – As am I. I’m totally fine with us having Evans 1.0
November 28th, 2016 at 1:18 pm
Evans has been thriving in scramble drills since A&M. A lot of our third down and long success has come from snapping the ball and having Jameis do what Johnny Football did to SEC defenses for 2 years- buy time and throw it up to Mike
November 28th, 2016 at 1:31 pm
I would have to watch all the game again but iirc YAC issue seems to be more of him getting jump type balls or Winston not quite throwing these guys passes that allow for continued running. Rarely see a pass on a slant with open space ahead for anyone.
November 28th, 2016 at 1:44 pm
@Brian – I’m not claiming to know much about the nuance of the game, but wouldn’t the prevalence of jump balls in our game be a result of us not having receivers with speed where they can get that separation?
November 28th, 2016 at 1:55 pm
Consider this, last week Evans caught a bomb on the 4 yard line and went out of bounds. Maybe he lost his balance idk but he wasn’t touched and it appeared as though he could have walked into the end zone.
November 28th, 2016 at 2:01 pm
what a change last year, we were all fired up by these stupid penalties. Yesterday I started to get worried when I saw Mike Evans involved in a brawl. But how foolish I was, He kept his cool and continued to create danger and space in the Seahawks secondary !
There is greatness in this still young man, and I wish him the best.
A lot of people in Europe are buzzing ofr OBJ but only the braves know that Mike Evans is the greatest WR in the league !
November 28th, 2016 at 2:29 pm
What’s interesting to me is how effortlessly he gets a hundred yards per game! To think that he and Jameis are going to grow together for, hopefully, the next decade brings a smile to my face!
November 28th, 2016 at 2:42 pm
BTW, great point Joehelldeloxley! He IS a changed man this year. Props to him for cleaning it up!
November 28th, 2016 at 2:51 pm
I am not worried about YAC as long as he just keeps catching almost everything that comes his way
November 28th, 2016 at 3:26 pm
DB55-
He definitely lost his balance on that throw last week. I think that is the issue most of the time. The types of routes he’s running don’t always allow for a lot of YAC. Especially when it’s on a scramble play, or a route where is finding the soft spot in zone coverage. When he makes the catch on his feet, he’ll run til he gets tackled. When he has to jump or a do a crazy circus catch, he’ll usually fall and/or get tackled to the ground. Doesn’t matter to me, he is straight BEASTIN!
November 28th, 2016 at 3:34 pm
Definitely beasting. No doubt about that.
November 28th, 2016 at 4:25 pm
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him run the phuck over Sherman yesterday.
November 28th, 2016 at 9:01 pm
Call me crazy but I’m ok with him not having much yac. I’m ok with the big chunks of yards per catch. Can you imagine a burner lining up next to him? That would be an awesome sight to see 😉
November 28th, 2016 at 10:14 pm
Instead of going up for the ball he allows it to come down to him that’s why he goes down after the catch like those. On that one catch he faded to the sideline which actually he didn’t need to. If he would have stayed straight up it would have been a td on that catch.
November 28th, 2016 at 10:36 pm
I saw the same thing in KC game where Evans lost sight of the sideline and ran out of bounds when he had a sure TD.
The bottom line with him is he gets open and is securing the ball. The Bucs need another weapon like Saints have with Cooks or Chiefs have with Hill or Falcons with Gabriel or Rams with Austin.
Those guys can catch it and run to daylight, that’s not Evans, he’s more of a Chris Carter or Michael Irwin type receiver, nothing wrong with either of those guys, both HOF’ers.