I’m not a big Mike Evans fan. Great player, and under different circumstances I might have him up at No. 2 among wide receivers on my board. But I think we could see a statistical slip this season.
Evans at times has benefited from Jameis Winston trying to jam everything to him. He caught 12 of their 29 touchdowns last year.
But the Bucs have more depth now. Cameron Brate has emerged. They signed DeSean Jackson. And they drafted Chris Godwin and O.J. Howard. They’ve also got their excellent third-down guy, Charles Sims, back from injury. They still have Adam Humphries.
So I think Winston has more ability to spread the ball around, and I think he will.
Even last year, Evans tailed off in the second half of the season. In his first eight games, he was the most productive pass catcher in the league (using standard fantasy scoring). In the second half of the season, 12 other wide receivers put up better numbers.
Evans is definitely among my top 10 wide receivers, but I don’t think I’ll be selecting him this year.
| TOP 20 WIDE RECEIVERS (games 1-8) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Yards | Avg | TD | Points |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 55 | 745 | 13.5 | 8 | 122.5 |
| Julio Jones, Atl. | 43 | 859 | 20.0 | 4 | 109.9 |
| A.J. Green, Cin. | 59 | 896 | 15.2 | 3 | 107.6 |
| Antonio Brown, Pitt. | 55 | 677 | 12.3 | 6 | 103.7 |
| Odell Beckham, NYG | 44 | 676 | 15.4 | 5 | 97.6 |
| T.Y. Hilton, Ind. | 46 | 709 | 15.4 | 4 | 94.9 |
| Jordy Nelson, G.B. | 38 | 509 | 13.4 | 7 | 92.9 |
| Michael Crabtree, Oak. | 47 | 569 | 12.1 | 6 | 92.9 |
| Amari Cooper, Oak. | 52 | 787 | 15.1 | 2 | 90.7 |
| Marvin Jones, Det. | 36 | 656 | 18.2 | 4 | 89.6 |
| Brandin Cooks, N.O. | 41 | 596 | 14.5 | 5 | 89.6 |
| Michael Thomas, N.O. | 47 | 573 | 12.2 | 5 | 87.3 |
| Larry Fitzgerald, Ariz. | 56 | 554 | 9.9 | 5 | 85.4 |
| Mike Wallace, Balt. | 39 | 614 | 15.7 | 4 | 85.4 |
| Davante Adams, G.B. | 44 | 465 | 10.6 | 6 | 82.5 |
| Jamison Crowder, Wash. | 40 | 498 | 12.5 | 5 | 79.8 |
| Kelvin Benjamin, Car. | 36 | 543 | 15.1 | 4 | 78.3 |
| Demaryius Thomas, Den. | 42 | 535 | 12.7 | 4 | 77.5 |
| Terrelle Pryor, Clev. | 41 | 532 | 13.0 | 4 | 77.2 |
| Kenny Britt, L.A. | 37 | 584 | 15.8 | 3 | 76.4 |
| TOP 20 WIDE RECEIVERS (games 9-16) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Yards | Avg | TD | Points |
| Jordy Nelson, G.B. | 59 | 748 | 12.7 | 7 | 116.8 |
| Odell Beckham, NYG | 57 | 691 | 12.1 | 5 | 99.1 |
| Antonio Brown, Pitt. | 51 | 607 | 11.9 | 6 | 96.7 |
| Rishard Matthews, Tenn. | 38 | 588 | 15.5 | 6 | 94.8 |
| Davante Adams, G.B. | 31 | 532 | 17.2 | 6 | 89.2 |
| Dez Bryant, Dall. | 34 | 514 | 15.1 | 6 | 87.4 |
| Julian Edelman, N.E. | 57 | 748 | 13.1 | 2 | 86.8 |
| T.Y. Hilton, Ind. | 45 | 739 | 16.4 | 2 | 85.9 |
| Doug Baldwin, Sea. | 50 | 558 | 11.2 | 5 | 85.8 |
| Tyreek Hill, K.C. | 39 | 359 | 9.2 | 8 | 83.9 |
| Tyrell Williams, S.D. | 37 | 529 | 14.3 | 5 | 82.9 |
| Golden Tate, Det. | 53 | 643 | 12.1 | 3 | 82.3 |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 41 | 576 | 14.0 | 4 | 81.6 |
| Michael Thomas, N.O. | 45 | 564 | 12.5 | 4 | 80.4 |
| Adam Thielen, Minn. | 40 | 535 | 13.4 | 4 | 77.5 |
| DeSean Jackson, Wash. | 26 | 589 | 22.7 | 3 | 76.9 |
| Pierre Garcon, Wash. | 43 | 645 | 15.0 | 2 | 76.5 |
| Taylor Gabriel, Atl. | 24 | 404 | 16.8 | 6 | 76.4 |
| Kenny Stills, Mia. | 25 | 398 | 15.9 | 6 | 75.8 |
| Brandin Cooks, N.O. | 37 | 577 | 15.6 | 3 | 75.7 |
—Ian Allan