Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans made his debut for the San Francisco 49ers tonight, and he wasted no time taking over the game and emerging as Brock Purdy's top target. Evans finished with six catches for 49 yards and a touchdown in a 27-7 49ers win.
It’s not just his big performance that stings — that was expected. He’s a future Hall of Fame wide receiver, after all. What really hurts is how perfectly the 49ers offense utilized Evans. Kyle Shanahan put on a clinic showing how to effectively deploy Evans’ skill set. There was a clear disparity between Evans’ usage tonight and how he was often used by the Buccaneers last year. Perhaps that’s part of why he took less money to get out of Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers have moved on, and they have a promising group of talented wide receivers to be excited about, but if Evans continues to perform at this level for the entire season — it’ll be a tough pill to swallow for the Buccaneers.
The San Francisco 49ers are using Mike Evans in ways the Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t
All six of Evans’ receptions resulted in either first downs or touchdowns. On the first drive alone, Evans had three catches for 22 yards — all three being third-down conversions.
Mike Evans scores his first TD as a 49er on a goal line fade. pic.twitter.com/83BQraSQC6
— Josh Crysler (@josh_crysler) September 11, 2026
The commitment to targeting Evans early and often and deploying him as a chain-mover on third down and in the red zone is the perfect way to utilize him at this stage of his career.
Tampa Bay under offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard frustratingly didn’t seem to make Evans a priority in those game-swinging situations last year. In Week 18 last season, a do-or-die game with a playoff spot on the line, Evans was targeted just twice in what ended up being his final game as a Buccaneer.
Now that Evans has landed with Shanahan, who’s widely regarded as one of the NFL’s best offensive minds, Evans’ talent won’t go to waste. Running the offense through him will be the game plan, as it should be.
Evans was moved around the formation and took plenty of snaps from the slot. He ran slants and other short or intermediate routes for high-percentage targets, whereas the Buccaneers tended to primarily use him vertically.
It goes to show how much more effective it is to scheme around your star player and manufacture ways to get him open to get him the ball, rather than putting the burden on him to win his matchups — especially a player who receives as much attention from opposing defenses as Evans does.
He made his presence felt in his first-ever game for the 49ers, and he looks to have a more prominent role with his new team than he did last season in Tampa Bay. If the 49ers continue to put Evans in position to thrive like this all season long, the Buccaneers may find themselves wondering why they couldn't do the same.
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