What was the pre-draft consensus on Mike Evans?

[Space Cowboy]

People here thought Evans had too great of a bust factor. Guess they didn't see him play Alabama or perform at the combine.

I was jumping for joy when I got him 1.03. Watkins naturally went first and Hyde went second. (49ers league)

[TheChicken]

Evans was deemed to have the best TD/red zone potential in his draft class, which was why some had him at the 1.01. Similarly to this year i didn't have an early pick in any league, so personally didn't split them and just left them in their own tier.

[clarion contrarion]

he was my 1:2 , first game I watched was when he tore bama apart his red shirt sophomore year , 2nd game was against auburn combined 18 catches 566 yards and 5 tds , I was ruined for life. He could have cut lines in front of roger dodger on the draft podium and I was drafting him high( no pun intended) .
He was behind yikes it looked good for while jeremy hill followed by watkins arob hyde
even had landry ahead of obj while landry has been terrific obj is in a different sphere so I wasn't 20/20 obviously, I thought he was mike wallace coming out missed that one a bit . I cleaned up in drafts with arob and hill as I drafted them way later just because I saw that virtually no one had them way up in their rankings.

[ninotoreS]

Williams doesn't have anything like Decker's route craft, including when Decker was just coming out of college.

[Valhalla]

Williams doesn't have anything like Decker's route craft, including when Decker was just coming out of college.

Agreed. Decker was (and is) underrated.

[Shaft4783]

Mike Williams and Mike Evans are incredibly similar prospects. Evans is 1 inch taller and roughly 10-15 lbs heavier, but that's about all.

Same speed, same style of play... The fact that most people DON'T like Williams makes me want to get more shares.

This years rookie drafts, to me, are 6 deep at the top. Cook, Fournette, McCaffrey, Davis, Mixon, and Williams. All 6 could be the overall 1.01.

[lukkynumber13]

Mike Williams and Mike Evans are incredibly similar prospects. Evans is 1 inch taller and roughly 10-15 lbs heavier, but that's about all.

Same speed, same style of play... The fact that most people DON'T like Williams makes me want to get more shares.

This years rookie drafts, to me, are 6 deep at the top. Cook, Fournette, McCaffrey, Mixon, and Williams. All 6 could be the overall 1.01.

6? Left out Davis?

[ninotoreS]

As I've said, Williams is a poor man's Evans insofar as tape and profile. They're comparable, but they're not 'incredibly' similar. Evans was the same flavor, but the better overall dish. So to speak.

Btw, 10-15 lbs difference is often quite a big difference as an indicator of play-strength. Both players make their hay winning at the catch-point, but Evans does it with significantly more muscle, speed, and explosion. And a bit better catch-radius.

[Dynasty DeLorean]

Mike Williams and Mike Evans are incredibly similar prospects. Evans is 1 inch taller and roughly 10-15 lbs heavier, but that's about all.

Same speed, same style of play...

Eh, not really. Don't get me wrong, I like Mike Williams just fine. However, Evans is larger (heft and length), faster, more explosive and younger.

I'm guessing you're buying into that phony 4.50 40 time for Mike Williams... It was actually around a 4.57

[Shaft4783]

Mike Williams and Mike Evans are incredibly similar prospects. Evans is 1 inch taller and roughly 10-15 lbs heavier, but that's about all.

Same speed, same style of play...

Eh, not really. Don't get me wrong, I like Mike Williams just fine. However, Evans is larger (heft and length), faster, more explosive and younger.

I'm guessing you're buying into that phony 4.50 40 time for Mike Williams... It was actually around a 4.57

Evans ran a 4.53 at the combine. The difference between the 2 is very little.

[Shaft4783]

WEAKNESSES Monotone mover with pedestrian speed -- cannot separate vertically or pull away from the pack. Unsudden acceleration. Stiff hips. Will have to make a living in traffic at the next level -- will struggle to separate vs. quick-twitch NFL cornerbacks. Did not run a full route tree and could require patience learning the nuances of refined route running. Backyard element to his college success -- must become savvier instead of depending on superior size and improvisational production.

Is that from Evans or Williams profile after the combine? Both had/have the same concerns.

Just don't get the Mike Williams hate. Yeah, his name is boring, so what. Did anyone watch him play? Hopefully he goes to a team that gives him a ton of targets. No reason he couldn't have a rookie year in the Evans-Thomas mold with the targets those guys got.

[Dynasty DeLorean]

Mike Williams and Mike Evans are incredibly similar prospects. Evans is 1 inch taller and roughly 10-15 lbs heavier, but that's about all.

Same speed, same style of play...

Eh, not really. Don't get me wrong, I like Mike Williams just fine. However, Evans is larger (heft and length), faster, more explosive and younger.

I'm guessing you're buying into that phony 4.50 40 time for Mike Williams... It was actually around a 4.57

Evans ran a 4.53 at the combine. The difference between the 2 is very little.

It's a noteworthy difference all else considered.

[maxhyde]

Plenty of people in my league had him as the first WR on their board. Him and Watkins were neck and neck in rookie-draft ADP, iirc.

Of course, a certain guy named Odell was a late 1st, early 2nd in that rookie-draft...

Anyway, I don't see Mike Williams' college career and tape being as impressive as Evans'. Mike Evans was a big part of the reason why Manziel was overrated.

Metrics aren't everything, of course, but you can see here that Evans was objectively a more impressive prospect than Williams today: https://www.playerprofiler.com//nfl/mike-williams https://www.playerprofiler.com/nfl/mike-evans/. Evans was younger, faster, bigger, more explosive, bigger catch-radius, broke out earlier, made more huge plays.

So it isn't possible Williams is why Watson is overrated?

[Cameron Giles]

Mike Williams and Mike Evans are incredibly similar prospects. Evans is 1 inch taller and roughly 10-15 lbs heavier, but that's about all.

Same speed, same style of play...

Eh, not really. Don't get me wrong, I like Mike Williams just fine. However, Evans is larger (heft and length), faster, more explosive and younger.

I'm guessing you're buying into that phony 4.50 40 time for Mike Williams... It was actually around a 4.57

Evans ran a 4.53 at the combine. The difference between the 2 is very little.

Williams ran a handtimed 4.57 at his pro day. It's very possible he would've ran a 4.6 at the combine.

[Cameron Giles]

Plenty of people in my league had him as the first WR on their board. Him and Watkins were neck and neck in rookie-draft ADP, iirc.

Of course, a certain guy named Odell was a late 1st, early 2nd in that rookie-draft...

Anyway, I don't see Mike Williams' college career and tape being as impressive as Evans'. Mike Evans was a big part of the reason why Manziel was overrated.

Metrics aren't everything, of course, but you can see here that Evans was objectively a more impressive prospect than Williams today: https://www.playerprofiler.com//nfl/mike-williams https://www.playerprofiler.com/nfl/mike-evans/. Evans was younger, faster, bigger, more explosive, bigger catch-radius, broke out earlier, made more huge plays.

So it isn't possible Williams is why Watson is overrated?

Watson had nearly identical seasons in 2015 when Williams missed the whole season and 2016 when he played. I do think Williams made Watson look good on downfield throws, since Watson isn't very accurate there and Williams just absorbs everything in his catch radius.