Mike Evans - The Dislike Is Real for this Perennial WR1 - Discussion Thread

[Phaded]

I genuinely cannot believe there are some people so adamantly comparing Butler to Evans..
You're grasping at straws. Broken straws, at that.
Sometimes the fantasy community just refuses to admit they were wrong.

Butler lasting until the 4th round when the fantasy community seemed to inexplicably have him pegged as 1.01 is a massive red flag. It is not a reflection of "big receivers" - it is a reflection of Butler, nothing more.

[dynastyninja]

I genuinely cannot believe there are some people so adamantly comparing Butler to Evans..
You're grasping at straws. Broken straws, at that.
Sometimes the fantasy community just refuses to admit they were wrong.

Butler lasting until the 4th round when the fantasy community seemed to inexplicably have him pegged as 1.01 is a massive red flag. It is not a reflection of "big receivers" - it is a reflection of Butler, nothing more.

100% agree

[PR0v3]

I don’t think Evans and Butler profile/d similar/ly at all. One has been a dominant player at the highest possible competition levels every year of his life. The other didn’t do much at all against mediocre competition until he was older than everyone else.

One was drafted because he was incredibly good at football, the other was given a chance because of his body.

I have no doubt if someone as good as Evans came along again a team would be willing to pick him 1.07.

[Ice]

1st,

Never compared Butler to Evans. I had Evans a solid First round prospect in NFL and Fantasy.

I had a 3rd round grade on Butler and a 4th or later NFL grade on him.

My sole point is if anyone can separate Evans in college vs today and go back and actually look at the scouting reports the same things said about him then mirror the Harry’s or Metcalf’s of this draft regarding routes,

His Combine was decent but just like then he would have finished well outside the upper tier in this class.

The game is different today and GM’s know they can fill needs with impact starters as rookies so in a draft like this with very good WR’s but a lot of elite grades on Instant start positions teams know they wait on deeper classes like this one at Wr.

Maybe not as we don’t know but the reality is Evans certainly wasn’t the perfect prospect. Watkins was the man and many including me though Odell would be better. Turns out that 2nd pick from GB, Adams is on the conversation.

Players like Watkins show early selection risk and players like Adams and Thomas or Hill show in today’s game elite defenders if they grade out our more important as development doesn’t take as long.

All hail Evans today but without the fore knowledge and his marginal speed and being bunched in with the likes of Harry, Boykin, DK and even Butler he would have been discounted some as he didn’t even test at their level.

The only point is I don’t think in this draft at this time he would have sniffed 1.7 in the draft.

The Bills pick at 9. Simply tested out way better. He’ll Sweat that went to Skins tested out way better.

Go back in time and study the scouting reports. Obviously today his production. Is way better but he was no lock stud back then and I imagine a few thought he was a reach back then.

The Bucs obviously hit on him but that wasn’t the actual question

[Snake]

Butler is more Dorial Green Beckham (player, not off field) than he is Mike Evans. Mike Evans would have gone top 10 this year class.

Giants would have drafted Evans at 6 in this class and then still have gotten Jones at 17. Haha!

[MrUbuto]

1st,

Never compared Butler to Evans. I had Evans a solid First round prospect in NFL and Fantasy.

I had a 3rd round grade on Butler and a 4th or later NFL grade on him.

My sole point is if anyone can separate Evans in college vs today and go back and actually look at the scouting reports the same things said about him then mirror the Harry’s or Metcalf’s of this draft regarding routes,

His Combine was decent but just like then he would have finished well outside the upper tier in this class.

The game is different today and GM’s know they can fill needs with impact starters as rookies so in a draft like this with very good WR’s but a lot of elite grades on Instant start positions teams know they wait on deeper classes like this one at Wr.

Maybe not as we don’t know but the reality is Evans certainly wasn’t the perfect prospect. Watkins was the man and many including me though Odell would be better. Turns out that 2nd pick from GB, Adams is on the conversation.

Players like Watkins show early selection risk and players like Adams and Thomas or Hill show in today’s game elite defenders if they grade out our more important as development doesn’t take as long.

All hail Evans today but without the fore knowledge and his marginal speed and being bunched in with the likes of Harry, Boykin, DK and even Butler he would have been discounted some as he didn’t even test at their level.

The only point is I don’t think in this draft at this time he would have sniffed 1.7 in the draft.

The Bills pick at 9. Simply tested out way better. He’ll Sweat that went to Skins tested out way better.

Go back in time and study the scouting reports. Obviously today his production. Is way better but he was no lock stud back then and I imagine a few thought he was a reach back then.

The Bucs obviously hit on him but that wasn’t the actual question

Great response thanks. I'll have to look up my notes but yea I don't recall anyone going overly bananas over Evan's. Some had him in their top but most had him in a 3rd tier around 7-12 if I recall.

[ninotoreS]

I distinctly remember that the Bucs selecting Evans was not regarded as controversial. And the sport has not changed drastically since 2014. Obviously.

Before his Combine, there was talk that Evans was more of a late 1st, early 2nd prospect, because there were questions about his speed. Then he came to Indy and ran a low 4.5 40 and posted a 37 inch vert at 6'5", 230lbs with 35 inch arms. Right then and there he became an early 1st round prospect. If you don't remember this, then you've forgotten.

Evans wasn't a high pick just because he was tall with elite length and a great height/weight adjusted speed-score, he was a high pick because he was that AND a precocious underclassman superstar versus a conference schedule loaded with future NFL players. NFL teams look for 'phenom' indicators just as we do, and they were drooling over Evans' NFL potential because he was already dominant at age 19 against the best collection of DBs college football could offer. Dude went for nearly 300 yards against Bama, for chrissake.

[sloth8u]

Back to the op, it seems as if you may be looking for why butler fell to the 4th? Dont have the answer, and in reality, all the teams passed on him multiple times....the nfl talent evaluators obviously saw some red flags with him.

I wouldnt look to deep into why evans went rd 1 and butler rd 4. At the end of the day butler did get drafted and has a chance to prove himself in the league.

Its hard to say where evans may have been drafted in 2019, but i do think he was a superior prospect to brown and harry this year and very likely he would have been taken before either of them. He was the concensus #2 behind watkins if i remember correctly, followed by either cooks or obj in most circles. As mentioned previously, teams are trying to bring in immediate starters with their 1st rd picks and evans was exactly that.

Id argue that 8 of the top 10 picks could have taken a wr if they had that particular player as their top prospect...so in general...yes, evans could have possibly been a top 10 in 2019.

[OhCruelestRanter]

I distinctly remember that the Bucs selecting Evans was not regarded as controversial. And the sport has not changed drastically since 2014. Obviously.

Before his Combine, there was talk that Evans was more of a late 1st, early 2nd prospect, because there were questions about his speed. Then he came to Indy and ran a low 4.5 40 and posted a 37 inch vert at 6'5", 230lbs with 35 inch arms. Right then and there he became an early 1st round prospect. If you don't remember this, then you've forgotten.

Evans wasn't a high pick just because he was tall with elite length and a great height/weight adjusted speed-score, he was a high pick because he was that AND a precocious underclassman superstar versus a conference schedule loaded with future NFL players. NFL teams look for 'phenom' indicators just as we do, and they were drooling over Evans' NFL potential because he was already dominant at age 19 against the best collection of DBs college football could offer. Dude went for nearly 300 yards against Bama, for chrissake.

The only two reputable mocks I could find from January 2014 (Kioer at ESPN, Burke at SI) both mocked Evans to St. Louis at 13. This guy was a slam dunk 1st rounder and would have been the WR1 in this class by a lot. Ridiculous that people are re-litigating this.

[dynastyninja]

I'm really confused by this whole thread. Mike Evans was a top tier WR prospect who many people had above Sammy.

This is not hindsight. That's 100% how it was. Evans would clearly be the best receiver prospect in this class. He was right there with Sammy in their class. It's so bizarre to me that there are people arguing that he wasn't thought of as a top prospect when he absolutely was. It was a crazy class loaded with talent, and Evans was right there at the top.

[dynastyninja]

All hail Evans today but without the fore knowledge and his marginal speed and being bunched in with the likes of Harry, Boykin, DK and even Butler he would have been discounted some as he didn’t even test at their level.

You're simply wrong. No other way to say it. They aren't close to what he was as a pre-draft prospect.

[OhCruelestRanter]

All hail Evans today but without the fore knowledge and his marginal speed and being bunched in with the likes of Harry, Boykin, DK and even Butler he would have been discounted some as he didn’t even test at their level.

You're simply wrong. No other way to say it. They aren't close to what he was as a pre-draft prospect.

It’s Ice, you shouldn’t be surprised.

[Ice]

All hail Evans today but without the fore knowledge and his marginal speed and being bunched in with the likes of Harry, Boykin, DK and even Butler he would have been discounted some as he didn’t even test at their level.

You're simply wrong. No other way to say it. They aren't close to what he was as a pre-draft prospect.

Really, if you read my post clearly I was speaking to their relative testing at the combine.

Evans 40yd time 4.53 Vertical 37" Bench 12 cone 7.08
Boykin 40yd time 4.42 Vertical 43.5" Bench 12 cone 6.77 broad 140
Harry 40 yd time 4.53 Vertical 38.5" Bench 27 broad 122
Butler40 yd time 4.48 vertical 36" Bench 18 Broad 128
DK 40 yd time 4.33 Vertical 40.5" Bench 27 broad 134 cone 7.28

Overall NFL Scout Grades and round projections
Evans 6.15 Projections round 1,2
Boykin 5.69 Projections round 2,3
Harry 5.87 Projections round 2
Metcalf 6.25 Projections round 1
Butler 5.74 Projections round 2

I am not going off of some revisionist history here. I just scout players in some detail. I am a big fan of Evans and have actually seen him play live in college several times.

Obviously, he turned out to be a very good pick but back in the day when one looks at the reality after excluding pro production his combine and weaknesses were were very similar to those listed.

Based on this years NFL draft I would have had Evans as the 3rd best WR in this class behind DK and M. Brown. I would have had a 1st round grade on him personally. (I did not have a first round grade on any of the above expect DK and Brown who his a different type player.) No idea if those two approach his pro production but based on the elite talent at other positions I am convinced he would not have gone 7th in this particular draft which was the OP's question as I read it.

Obviously, if GM's new his actual production would have been this good he would have gone top 5.

It is interesting to look at but no one knows for sure. Obviously the facts listed pretty much prove he didn't test any better than those listed.

[Lumps]

I'm really confused by this whole thread. Mike Evans was a top tier WR prospect who many people had above Sammy.

This is not hindsight. That's 100% how it was. Evans would clearly be the best receiver prospect in this class. He was right there with Sammy in their class. It's so bizarre to me that there are people arguing that he wasn't thought of as a top prospect when he absolutely was. It was a crazy class loaded with talent, and Evans was right there at the top.

This.

This is the first time I've seen revisionist history, to state that someone was actually viewed worse than they were.... after we already know they are a STUD. As I said earlier, truly baffling.

[ninotoreS]

One of the big reasons Butler dropped is because he had a 15.5% drop rate (Evans had a 4.29% drop rate in 2013).

Butler is a catch-radius specimen who doesn't catch the ball reliably. That's a major problem, obviously.

I'm really confused by this whole thread. Mike Evans was a top tier WR prospect who many people had above Sammy.

This is not hindsight. That's 100% how it was. Evans would clearly be the best receiver prospect in this class. He was right there with Sammy in their class. It's so bizarre to me that there are people arguing that he wasn't thought of as a top prospect when he absolutely was. It was a crazy class loaded with talent, and Evans was right there at the top.

This.

This is the first time I've seen revisionist history, to state that someone was actually viewed worse than they were.... after we already know they are a STUD. As I said earlier, truly baffling.

The only two reputable mocks I could find from January 2014 (Kioer at ESPN, Burke at SI) both mocked Evans to St. Louis at 13. This guy was a slam dunk 1st rounder and would have been the WR1 in this class by a lot. Ridiculous that people are re-litigating this.

Piling on: Sports Illustrated had Evans as the #1 WR on their board in a WR class everyone agreed was loaded. Published in April that year, their ranking was derived from tape and collegiate resume, not testing numbers.

https://www.si.com/nfl/audibles/2014/04 ... -receivers