Subscribe
Follow Us
Tampa Bay Buccaneers' superstar wide receiver Mike Evans has long been considered one of the best wide receivers in football.
However, he's also a polarizing figure. Some believe he is easily in the top-five. Meanwhile, others feel he is overrated and while good, is not in that elite tier.
That being said, the numbers speak for themselves. And those numbers tend to say that he's one of the best.
Now Evans has another star receiver in Chris Godwin with him. And Rob Gronkowski has come to town as one of the elite tight ends in the entire league.
Of course Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady is going to be entering his first year with the team as well.
So what does all of this mean for Evans, specifically for his fantasy football prospects? Let's take a look and try to figure out what the fantasy football outlook for Evans is in 2020.
2019 Fantasy Stats
Once again, Evans was unstoppable for most of the season in 2019. He appeared in just 13 games. In that time, he managed 67 receptions for 1,157 yards and eight receiving touchdowns.
While the receptions were not anything crazy (36th in the NFL), his yards (13th) and receiving touchdowns (tied for ninth) could both be considered top-tier easily.
Now imagine if Evans played in those three extra games. The numbers could really have been incredible.
And that's something you have to think about when playing fantasy football. Because while it hurts that Evans did not play in three games, the owners knew before hand. That means they were able to replace him in those weeks.
So for the 13 games that Evans did play, he was easily one of the best fantasy football options at the wide receiver position. In fact, he was one of the best fantasy football options period – regardless of position.
What about that ever important consistency though? Was Evans giving his fantasy owners good production each week (or at least most weeks)? Or did he feast a few times, only to disappear most other games?
There were a few bad games in there. One of those games saw him grab just one catch. But he made that catch count, going 61 yards and scoring a touchdown. It's tough to count that game, as Evans left due to an injury. And still, in a PPR (Points Per Reception) league, that's 13 points – not bad at all.
Evans also had two catches for just 28 yards one week and got goose-egged another week.
Other than that though, Evans never had less that four receptions in a game. He also never had under 50 receiving yards in any of those games.
Now, he was prone to those massive games, meaning he sometimes didn't produce too much other weeks.
Evans had three truly massive games. He had a 12 reception game for 180 yards and one touchdown, an 11 reception game for 198 yards and two touchdowns and an eight reception game for 190 yards and three touchdowns.
That's 31 receptions for 568 yards and six touchdowns. This means the other ten games Evans appeared in saw him record just 36 receptions for 589 yards and two touchdowns. Not exactly what you'd be looking for from your stud fantasy receiver.
There is a positive though, something that might make 2020 more consistent.
2020 Fantasy Projections
Now, this is no disrespect to Jameis Winston. He is extremely talented. A great quarterback that proved in 2019 that he can absolutely fill up the box score.
However, he is shaky. Winston can be streaky and sometimes loses the game. Yes, he can win a team a game and go absolutely unconscious ridiculously good. But at times, things go very bad.
And when that happens, Evans suffered. It's hard for a receiver to put up big numbers in a game when it looks like the quarterback is more interested in throwing the ball to the other team than to his own weapons.
When Winston was on, it meant big numbers. But those bad names really hurt fantasy production for a few people. And Evans was one of those that was hurt the most.
Now the Buccaneers have Brady at quarterback though. And honestly, he does not have as much “boom” potential. You probably won't see him flirting with 500 yards nearly as often as Winston was. But he's not going to be missing his receivers as often.
That means bigger reception numbers for Evans. And in turn, more receiving touchdowns. The yards might even bump up a little bit.
You could argue that Godwin and especially the addition of Gronkowski will take away targets from Evans. They should only help him though.
Teams can not afford to focus all their attention on Evans. A great defensive back needs to be on Godwin or he is going to absolutely torch them. And we all now how much Gronkowski can terrorize a defense.
This means Evans is going to be facing a lot more favorable matchups. And he is going to not see many double teams.
Article Continues Below
That means he gets to bully his defender more often. And we could see Brady absolutely fall in love with Evans. This could be a match made in heaven.
2020 should be legendary for Evans. He's never had 100 receptions in a season before, and he might flirt with it in 2020. We'll go a little lower though and say he finishes with 95 for 1,450 yards and 11 touchdowns.
None of those are career-bests. But together that might be his best single season. Remember, Evans is still just 26 (will be 27 by the start of the 2020 season). He might just be entering his prime. Things could get scary.
Rank At Position
There are a lot of elite stars at the wide receiver position. So it's hard to crack into that top group.
This is no insult to anyone either. But just think about some of the stars at the position. DeAndre Hopkins? Julio Jones? Michael Thomas? Keenan Allen? Davante Adams? Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry? What about Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods?
Even his own team has a receiver that racked up over 1,300 yards in Godwin.
I could keep going too. There are plenty of receivers that could be considered superstars, or even others that are knocking on that door. And if they take the next step in 2020, they might be dethroning some of those names and taking their spots in the fantasy rankings.
And don't forget about A.J. Green. A comeback tour could be on the horizon for him. And if anyone remembers, he was right there at the top of the list of receivers. Fantasy wise, he can absolutely dominate.
So can Evans though. And he's in possibly the best position he's ever been in his NFL career.
There is a ton of talent around him. That talent is going to keep the defense from zeroing in on him.
Meanwhile, Brady is arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time. Even at his age and with many considering him “washed up”, the quarterback is still one of the best in the league. He's a leader and extremely accurate. Brady could be a perfect match for Evans.
So where does Evans come in when it comes to the rankings? Ready for this, top-5. Who is ahead of him, exactly?
Jones, Thomas, Hopkins and Adams. That's it. Evans comes in at number five.
He might be on a team with a lot of talent that could take targets away from him, but so are most other players.
Adams is the only one on that list that doesn't really have any other weapons in the passing attack to help take pressure off him. Aaron Rodgers is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time, but he can't catch the passes he throws. So defenses really lock in on him.
Everyone else has talent around them. And that doesn't hurt them, it helps uplift them.
Now Evans has one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time. And he has another elite receiver and possibly the greatest tight end ever creating havoc for opposing defenses.
Evans is elite. And 2020 might just be the best fantasy season he's ever had. Get him early and don't second guess it for a single moment. Evans is going to dominate all year long and give you consistent production.
Expect him to be one of the reasons plenty of fantasy owners find themselves winning their leagues this upcoming season. It should be a fun one.
