It appears as though Buccaneers’ receiver Mike Evans is beginning to gain attention in the “elite receiver” conversation.
Despite the conversation surrounding elite receivers always contains the same names – Julio Jones, Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr., and A.J. Green – there is finally some buzz being generated around Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans.
Pro Football Focus listed Mike Evans and Julio Jones as their only two elite receivers of the 2016 NFL season.
Only two wide receivers saw an elite PFF grade of over 90.0 in 2016.
— PFF (@PFF) June 18, 2017
They both hailed from the NFC South. pic.twitter.com/qwVZeUaqvJ
Now, those of you that know me or listen to the Walking The Plank podcast know my feelings towards Pro Football Focus and their grading system. Those feelings aside, the conversation is about more than just Pro Football Focus or their analytics.
The conversation is gearing towards Mike Evans and his level of play. It’s about how Evans is overlooked – maybe because of a rough 2015 where he led the NFL in dropped passes. It’s about a player that has put up mind-boggling stats, but no one seems to notice.
Maybe it’s that Buccaneers bias where very few people outside of Bucs fans recognize the talent or how special one of their players are. Just ask Kwon Alexander.
It’s about time Evans was included in the elite conversation. To lead the NFL in catches for a first down is impressive. To do it on a team where you are the first, second, third, and fourth target and the defense knows it, yet still can’t stop you?
That’s elite.
Adding DeSean Jackson, Chris Godwin, and O.J. Howard are only going to make Evans better. They are going to prevent defenses from game planning strictly against Evans and will create mismatches in Evans’ favor throughout games. Want to double Evans? FIne, Jackson gets one-on-one coverage. Going to have both safeties over the top to stop Evans and Jackson? Fine, we’ll hit you with a pass to Howard who is being covered by a linebacker.
As this offense evolves and begins to incorporate all of its weapons, Evans will become that much more of a threat and entrench himself even further into the conversation of elite receivers.