Dynasty League Football Forum

Did I miss the Mike Evans thread? I searched and couldn't find one on the Discussion board.

Anyway, his role and the trust of the coaching staff both seem to be expanding in recent weeks, leading to a monster stat line of 7-124-2 in a winnable game for the Bucs over the Browns. This wasn't just garbage time stat accumulation.

Recent threads seem to have been indicating a possible devaluation of Evans due to him not having had his "breakout" game yet. Moncrief vs. Benjamin had a lot of people discussing those two as top flight WR possibilities for years to come. Another thread had people voting the top 5 rookies for the long term as of now with half a season in the rear-view. Evans was in the top 5, but he wasn't a clear cut #2 to Watkins like he seemed to be before the season.

He's starting to show the chops we all thought he had to begin with.

I suppose I have three questions:
What caused him to lose a little luster over the first part of the season - I assume simply his lack of a true breakout performance?
What are expectations going forward for the remainder of this year with Glennon/McCown at QB and a muddled RB situation?
What are expectations for Evans within the Bucs franchise for the forseeable future - do you think they bring in a QB from the draft or Free Agency? Is he their future WR1, and, if he is, what does that mean on a Lovie Smith coached team?

I think he has the talent to be great and he is/has been showing it already. His situation is really the only knock for me at this point.

He isn't talked about a lot on here I don't know why. Others were breaking out sooner I guess.

Even so he had 3 super nice games before this one. He seriously looked unreal. If Glennon is the QB he will be a monster for the rest of this year and beyond. If Mccown gets back in let him struggle and buy low.

I feel like Evans had the worst situation. Even though Sammy had a bad situation in Buffalo, his talent was so sky high people thought it wouldn't matter as much.

His QB was McCown going into the season, he was alongside a very similar receiver in Vjax, and his head coach was Lovie Smith. Lovie hasn't exactly been known to correctly utilize WR talent. (As a Bears fan, I know!)

And though he showed flashes here and there, this is the first week he really put it together.

I'm more inclined to agree with balaberda than Irishdoom on his "super nice games" vs. flashes. The previous games where he "showed flashes" - the only reason they were flashes were the number of targets and the time at which they came. In this game they looked to Evans as a clutch receiver in key moments without hesitation. His play hasn't changed too much since his last few games, merely the opportunity afforded him by the play calling and QB decision making. His play has been phenomenal for a while now.

He is a WR that is great in space, he uses his body better than almost any WR I've seen, he actually reminds me of Tony Gonzales, you know, but faster and bigger, haha....

The Bucs offensive line was so bad at the beginning of the season, and McCown was under such pressure, he came up with that deer in the headlights look and I knew he was done .. he had lost all confidence and was taking a beating... He had zero chance getting the ball down the field.

The offense simply looks better with Glennon in it, he never looks lost, he's tough and determined. (he is still under a lot of pressure, and takes a lot of sacks also, but he just handles it better). His first game he found Vincent Jackson often and early, his stats took a spike, but since then, Vincent Jackson has dropped several crucial passes ending drives. So we've seen a gradual progression to looking and finding Evans a lot more often .. The second game Glennon was in, Evans was having a really nice break out like game until he pulled a groin .. so he missed a few games also ..

Which leads us to today, it seems Glennon is looking for him and is beginning to trust him a whole lot more than Vincent Jackson right now... Plus Evans really benefits from Vincent Jackson on the field as well as ASJ ...

Evans is really getting open to, he's great on the sideline, adjusts well ...he makes it look so easy. The malfunction is not on his end at all, he suffers from everyone around him right now ... it's not flashes, or just now getting "it" at all, he's always had it, it is just now he's getting more opportunity from Glennon. (to echo Steve post above me

(I've watched all the Buc games, I live in Tampa .. and yes, till the last second on the clock even during the blow outs, hey .. I'm a Tampa fan, its not like I've seen them lose that badly before, atleast now we just make mental errors and blown coverages, not have this inept inability to tackle, heh.)

This year's rookie WR class has been in some identifiable categories:

Expected big things, getting big things: Sammy Watkins

Moderate to high expectations that were exceeded early: Cooks, Benjamin

Expected to be pretty good, has been decent and visible and climbed due to being a bigger part of their team's offense earlier than expected: Robinson, Adams, OBJ

That leaves Evans, Matthews, Lee, Latimer, and Moncrief. Lee & Latimer have gotten buried to date and have no buzz. Moncrief has the hype machine going. Matthews hasn't passed Cooper as fast as people thought he should so it's been quiet.

So Evans. He's been largely forgotten because he's not exceeded expectations, he's not had flashy streaks, doesn't have Luck, Rodgers, or Brees throwing to him, and has simply been consistently good. That doesn't make for compelling discussion, which is why I think he's been a quiet topic.

I have him on my Taxi Squad. Super excited to get him through a trade (Peyton). I thought he was having a nice rookie season. Consistent 4 catches 70ish yards. Pretty solid for a rookie. He was on pace for around 65 catches. That's good stuff right there.

How do you guys fill about calling up rookies off a taxi/development squad if you have one? His cap is $20 in my league. Should I call him up and just ride out the growth, or do you prefer to let him marinate on the taxi squad as long as possible?

Evans really shouldn't be on a taxi squad…time for that man to get the call. I would start him over Keenan, Roddy, and Crabs every single week…and wouldn't even think twice about it. Lovie said he wanted to target Evans more. He did. And Evans responded. I see a lot of Glennon chucking it up…and a lot of Evans going to get it the rest of the way. The body control and ball skills that Evans shows are pretty unique.

He's a monster, the clear cut #2 of this rookie class like everyone excepted.

His value is closer to Watkin's than to any other rookie receiver.

The way I play dynasty, I never have big time rookies on my team. However, I took over an orphan team that had the 1.01 and took Watkins. Sold off all the aging pieces and stocked up on picks as much as I could given how inactive the league is in trades.

Prior to this week I sent Hillman/Adams/Twill for Evans/2nd. I'm thrilled now that I did because I'm pretty sure Evans price just went up. For never having many rookies on my team it's been kind of fun to do a rebuild. I'm ecstatic that I did it this year and have Watkins/Evans to build around. I have a feeling that owners of Watkins/Evans are going to feel similar to those that ended up with Julio/AJG in 2011. Watkins/Evans are going to be building block studs for a long time IMO.

I really like what I'm seeing of him. Reached for him a bit in a start up draft (4th round) and have watched a lot of the other rookies put up great lines so far but confident he'll be central to my team for years. He's only just 21 as well.

BuckeyeNation wrote:The way I play dynasty, I never have big time rookies on my team. However, I took over an orphan team that had the 1.01 and took Watkins. Sold off all the aging pieces and stocked up on picks as much as I could given how inactive the league is in trades.

Prior to this week I sent Hillman/Adams/Twill for Evans/2nd. I'm thrilled now that I did because I'm pretty sure Evans price just went up. For never having many rookies on my team it's been kind of fun to do a rebuild. I'm ecstatic that I did it this year and have Watkins/Evans to build around. I have a feeling that owners of Watkins/Evans are going to feel similar to those that ended up with Julio/AJG in 2011. Watkins/Evans are going to be building block studs for a long time IMO.

I inherited a team with the 1.01 and 1.05. Traded Roddy & the 1.05 for the 1.02 when people said there was no gap in the picks way before the draft. So I have Watkins and Evans but also grabbed Beckham for T.Williams back when people were really down on him. Looking forward to a lot of good years with those 3.

voiceofunreason wrote:

BuckeyeNation wrote:The way I play dynasty, I never have big time rookies on my team. However, I took over an orphan team that had the 1.01 and took Watkins. Sold off all the aging pieces and stocked up on picks as much as I could given how inactive the league is in trades.

Prior to this week I sent Hillman/Adams/Twill for Evans/2nd. I'm thrilled now that I did because I'm pretty sure Evans price just went up. For never having many rookies on my team it's been kind of fun to do a rebuild. I'm ecstatic that I did it this year and have Watkins/Evans to build around. I have a feeling that owners of Watkins/Evans are going to feel similar to those that ended up with Julio/AJG in 2011. Watkins/Evans are going to be building block studs for a long time IMO.

I inherited a team with the 1.01 and 1.05. Traded Roddy & the 1.05 for the 1.02 when people said there was no gap in the picks way before the draft. So I have Watkins and Evans but also grabbed Beckham for T.Williams back when people were really down on him. Looking forward to a lot of good years with those 3.

great moves. I wish I had the chance to buy low on Beckham, but the guy who owns him in my league knew how good he is

Think he is more Dez Bryant than even Dez Bryant.

ajmyk wrote:He's a monster, the clear cut #2 of this rookie class like everyone excepted.

His value is closer to Watkin's than to any other rookie receiver.

I'd disagree with that, I think Benjamin is the clear #2 rookie WR. If I were redrafting I would go Watkins, Benjamin, Cooks, Evans.