Money Receiver

July 15th, 2018

Big time.

If you need chunks of yards, there are few better receivers in the NFL than Mike Evans.

Says who? Says Chase Stuart of FootballPerspective.com. He has gone through each of Evans’ catches last year and found that more often than not, throwing to Evans means the Bucs offense will move the chains.

On 2nd down, 14 of Evans’ 19 receptions went for first downs; of the other 5, one was a 13-yard gain on 2nd-and-15 and one was a 6-yard gain on 2nd-and-10. That leaves just three catches where Evans failed to pick up at least 60% of the necessary yards to get a first down: a 6-yard catch on a 2nd-and-15, a 4-yard catch on a 2nd-and-7 (arguably a successful play in its own right), and a 3-yard catch on a 2nd-and-10. And that was it.

And people whine about Evans’ YAC. Good grief.

Evans has racked up over 1,000 yards each of his four seasons in the league. As for his yards-per-catch, they are damned near Randy Moss numbers.

Just because Evans isn’t a burner like Antonio Brown or Julio Jones doesn’t mean he isn’t a top-shelf receiver.

18 Responses to “Money Receiver”

  1. Roy T. Buford Says:

    While certainly not whining about YAC on Evans, imagine how much more explosive he could be if the Bucs had a QB who was a more accurate passer than Former Face-of-the-Franchise Jameis Winston; someone who can hit him and DJax in stride. There is nothing to complain about with the squad of receivers on the Bucs overall.

  2. stpetebucsfan Says:

    Roy

    Enjoy your posts and largely agree but I pick a nit with this one.

    As you know I respect Jameis on field ability but do not believe he has the common sense on the field or off to play the position successfully.

    But I do not blame ME’s lack of YAC on Jameis. ME’s like a possession receiver.
    How many times have we seen ME with more than a half step on a defender. That’s just not his game. He likes to post up and let Jameis toss a jump ball which ME grabs. Great for moving the chains. And his yardage and catches show that.

    I suspect ME has told Jameis just get it where I can get hands on it and I’ll win the battle so Jameis has a lot of latitude…doubt they worry much about ME showing a burst of speed and beating defender like DJAX.

  3. Gator Says:

    Get a load of this guy ^^ lmao

  4. Roy T. Buford Says:

    @SPBF…I agree not all of ME13’s lack of YAC is on FFF Winston…but Evans also has speed for his size and of course, so does DJax…a weapon the Bucs have not been able to use optimally. ME’s strength is his length and size for sure, which mean jump balls will be his. I just wish fewer were that way, especially ones to DJax.

  5. stpetebucsfan Says:

    @Roy

    I suspect that I agree with your basic premise. Throwing the deep ball has not been Jameis forte. lol

    Again as the optimist I haven’t given up on his talent…below the neck he has a great arm…a little baseball still to work out of it…but he has the physical skill.

    Upstairs though he is a true mess.

  6. Not there yet Says:

    “And people whine about Evans’ YAC. Good grief.”

    Including joebucsfans writers, correction mainly joebucsfans writers. Your the ones who have to find something to complain about after a bad season to give content

  7. BucNole Says:

    Good grief – more useless babble about YAC and “60% of the necessary yards to get a first down???”
    How about lets score some freaking points and win some freaking games!
    Im getting pretty tired of useless stats and comparisons by computer nerds – is it football yet???

  8. Bradentonbuc Says:

    so glad we have this guy locked up as a Buc

  9. Roy T. Buford Says:

    SBBF…I could handle FFF Winston’s someone slow development as a passer for a couple more years (he does put in the work) if there was any indication he’s be solid as a leader and reliable to be there when we need him, and to make others better around him. But he’s neither a leader nor reliable. Sad to say.

  10. DJ Quick Says:

    He needs to work on catching the receivers in stride. I hate seeing passes that are behind the reciever.

  11. stpetebucsfan Says:

    Roy

    Sadly…even though I am optimistic I have to agree with you based on all the evidence to this point.

  12. Bobby M. Says:

    Yet Winston grades out as an avg starter….Scary to think how bad he’d look if he didn’t have Evans.

  13. I Bleed Pewter Says:

    His catch radius is phenomenal! Thank the NFL GOD for that cause he sure makes Winston’s inaccurate throws a non-issue unlike with Desean Jackson, who doesn’t have a seven foot wingspan.

  14. Roy T. Buford Says:

    @Bobby M, I’ve long believed Evans is what made Johnny Manziel look good.

  15. Darin Says:

    None of the bucs receivers have great YAC numbers. Should tell you there its the offense thats the reason. I mean watch the games. Not many guys are gona get yac when they catch a comeback or curl or whatever route where the defense knows its coming and has 3 guys right there for the tackle. Its amazing to me they complete as many as they do.

  16. stpetebucsfan Says:

    Let me add this defense of Jameis. Watching the games I would see opponents with 2 or 3 steps on our DB’s.

    When I watch the Bucs offense the targets are rarely that open…many times they appear covered and Fameis has to thread the needle.

    I’m not saying #3 was perfect…just that he’s only a part of that problem. Some blame to receivers and some blame to Koetter for not devising plays that gave a little separation for his pass game.

  17. stpetebucsfan Says:

    Let me add this defense of Jameis. Watching the games I would see opponents with 2 or 3 steps on our DB’s.

    When I watch the Bucs offense the targets are rarely that open…many times they appear covered and Fameis has to thread the needle.

    I’m not saying #3 was perfect…just that he’s only a part of that problem. Some blame to receivers and some blame to Koetter for not devising plays that gave a little separation for his pass game.

  18. Pryda... sec147 Says:

    Once ME gets that mental toughness down he will take his game to next level tremendous run blocker too