: Mike Evans
Buccaneers WR Mike Evans says his sore left hamstring isn’t so sore that he wouldn’t be able to play this week if it were absolutely necessary. Still, he believes the Bucs are doing the prudent thing by shutting him down for the remainder of the preseason.
“I think it’s smart,’’ said Evans, who tweaked his hamstring early in the Bucs victory over the Bengals on Monday night. “There’s no reason to risk it. I’ve already proven myself. And this way I can just try to get back for Week 1 of the regular season.’’
It sounds like the injury isn't much to worry about and that Evans will be ready to go Week 1.
The Buccaneers have a short turnaround from Monday night’s game against the Bengals to Saturday’s matchup with the Browns and they aren’t going to risk further injury to wide receiver Mike Evans’s hamstring by playing him in that contest.
After that comes the fourth preseason game, which is usually conducted by players vying for spots on the lower rungs of the depth chart and/or the practice squad. Evans is in neither of those groups and, as a result, coach Lovie Smith announced Tuesday, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, that Evans will not play again until the regular season.
As for whether Evans will be ready to play when the regular season gets started, Smith said that the team will “take every precaution” during Evans’s recovery and not rush him back into the lineup before he’s healed, the story said. It's a situation to watch as hopefully the team is just being cautious with Evans and it won't affect the start of the real season. As the story pointed out, it's valuable live action he's missing with QB Jameis Winston, at least for the third preseason game.
Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith said the hamstring injury wide receiver Mike Evans suffered in Monday night’s 25-11 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals does not appear to be serious.
“I talked to him and he didn’t feel like it was that serious,’’ Smith said. “We wanted to get our (starters) into the second quarter and then get them out.’’
Evans left the game in the second quarter and did not return. Obviously good news but the hope is this doesn't linger into the season.
First, Jameis Winston said he is a dreamer. Then, he b...
First, Jameis Winston said he is a dreamer. Then, he backed it up.
The rookie quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers said Tuesday he sees a great future for himself and second-year receiver Mike Evans. Winston wasn't talking just great. He was talking greatest of all time.
"I always tell Mike, 'Mike, it's Joe Montana and Jerry Rice' and things like that," Winston said. "That was one of the best duos of all time. I love this game of football so much, so I try to relate me and a great receiver like him to other players that have done it before."
That's a very lofty goal. But Winston and Evans at least have the potential to be a duo for the ages. Winston comes with all the pedigree of being a Heisman Trophy winner and the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Evans had an outstanding rookie year, piling up more than 1,000 receiving yards despite some shaky play from the quarterbacks, the story said.
Tampa Bay has one of the league's best tandems of start...
Tampa Bay has one of the league's best tandems of starting receivers with Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans. Each of them had over 1,000 receiving yards last season, which came despite some shaky quarterback play.
With the arrival of rookie quarterback Jameis Winston, Evans and Jackson could put up better numbers than last season. They developed good chemistry with Winston during offseason workouts and they should make life easy for the rookie.
Camp figures to be a wide-open competition for the other roster spots. Veteran Louis Murphy enters with a slight edge over rookies Kenny Bell and Kaelin Clay and second-year pro Robert Herron. But all three of the young receivers will have a chance to compete with Murphy for the third receiver spot. Clay has added value because he is expected to be the primary kickoff and punt returner.
Our bet is on Murphy at this point, but he only comes in 84th on our WR list. He got some attention in Weeks 4 and 5 last season when he had back-to-back TDs, but the rest of the way had just one game over 18 yards receiving.
Ronde Barber knows a thing or two about quarterbacks af...
Ronde Barber knows a thing or two about quarterbacks after spending his entire 16-year NFL career trying to intercept them. So what does he think about the Bucs’ new signal-caller, Jameis Winston? Last week, the Buccaneer great sat down with CBS to discuss.
“He gives you the spectacular, but he also gives you the rookie," Barber said, via JoeBucsFan. “But what I will say about (Jameis) is he plays with zero fear. He’ll let go of any ball. He has that confidence. I’ve played against guys that have supreme confidence in themselves and their ability to make plays. You can already see it. He has no fear letting the ball go."
It’s easy to draw the comparison between Winston and Bills quarterback E.J. Manuel. Winston succeeded Manuel as Florida State’s starter and both were first-round picks in the NFL Draft. But according to Barber, they’re nothing alike.
“The guy that preceded him at Florida State, E.J. Manuel, I did a couple of games of Buffalo over these two years that I’ve been working at FOX, and he is the other way,” Barber said. “He’s timid. He holds the ball. He’s scared to deliver it when he needs to. This guy (Winston) is the complete opposite, maybe to a detriment at times; he throws a lot of interceptions."
Winston will likely see many highs and lows this season, as any rookie does. But the good news is he's got two, star WRs to throw to in Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans. The bad news is the offensive line is a question. It may be a tough go at first, but things should start to click with game experience. We rank Winston 24th, which puts him outside QB2 range in ten team leagues, but he could end up being a waiver wire pickup at some point this season with QB2 value and a chance to be a streaming starter.
Bucs WR Mike Evans helped make the 2014 rookie receiver...
Bucs WR Mike Evans helped make the 2014 rookie receiver class one of the best in NFL history.
Along with Odell Beckham Jr., Sammy Watkins, Kelvin Benjamin, John Brown, Martavis Bryant, Jordan Matthews and others, the young group boasts a potent combo of playmaking and stardom.
When asked by USA Today's Tom Pelissero recently if there is a competition within the group to be the best, Evans wouldn't constrain it to merely his own draft class.
"I'm just trying to be the best, period," he said.
While Beckham bathed in the spotlight in 2014, especially after his ridiculous one-handed catch on Sunday Night Football, Evans put up his 12-touchdown, 1,051-yard season relatively quietly on a two-win Buccaneers team. You can argue Evans' QB situation was among the worst of that group. But with Jameis Winston under the helm and Evans taking over the "X" receiver role in the Bucs' new offense under coordinator Dirk Koetter, the second-year pass catcher is confident he can push his name further into the national consciousness. We think so too as Evans is ranked eighth among our WRs this season heading into camps. He has an ADP of the third round and we project him for over 10 TDs and 1,200 yards.
Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston has exceeded everyone's expectations. The first-overall pick arrived in Tampa Bay with plenty of questions, most of them off-field-related. But he's shined through minicamp and OTAs, and even if coach Lovie Smith won't anoint Winston the starter, there's no denying the quarterback's work ethic.
“I thought he would be a certain way, and that's what he's been," Smith said, via the team's website. "All of the positive things you've heard about Jameis is what we've been able to see. He is very smart. He is a gym rat -- football junkie. He does have personality. His glass is half full every day."
By all accounts, Winston has had a great offseason and is fitting in well with the Buccaneers. He is a shoo-in to start immediately, so opportunity is plentiful. He has two established weapons to throw to in receivers Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson, and TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins is expected to make strides in his second season. The situation from a skill position standpoint is very good, though the offensive line isn't. The Bucs did add two offensive linemen in the 2nd round, so there should be improvement up front. Rookie QBs are generally poor fantasy bets, but Winston should be a committee/streaming option in 12-team leagues.
Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston has made huge strides since he was drafted. He has picked up the playbook well and is comfortable making calls at the line of scrimmage. He has started to build chemistry with wide receivers Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans. Winston still needs to working on not forcing throws into heavy coverage, but the Bucs are very happy with how he has progressed so far.
Winston is a shoo-in to start immediately, so opportunity is plentiful. He has two established weapons to throw to in receivers Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson, and TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins is expected to make strides in his second season. The situation from a skill position standpoint is very good, though the offensive line isn't. The Bucs did add two offensive linemen in the 2nd round, so there should be improvement up front. Rookie QBs are generally poor fantasy bets, but Winston should be a committee/streaming option in 12-team leagues.
Dirk Koetter was signed as the Bucs’ OC in the offseason after serving the same role in Atlanta a year ago.
“He’s a smooth guy,” Mike Evans said after Thursday’s OTA practice. “He knows what he is doing. If you look at the Falcons’ receivers last year they had some of the best stats. He gets his receivers the ball and on this team we have some really good playmakers at the receiver position. I like the way he gets the receivers the ball, so hopefully we’ll have a great year.”
Vincent Jackson feels similarly. He’s been in a few different systems since entering the league in 2005. But this system will spread the ball all around the field and utilize Jackson in several different ways, something he’s excited about.
“Obviously the way I’ve worked in the past was being very dynamic where they can play me in multiple places and Dirk (Koetter) is having fun with that and he’s putting me in a lot of different areas. It’s fun to play inside, outside, stretch the field, cross the field, and that’s what’s good about this offensive system is that we’re going to put the ball all over the place.”
Evans finished as the #11 receiver in standard formats and #13 in PPR. He should enjoy a quarterback upgrade this year and should continue to develop as a receiver. Expect more of the same. After finishing as a low-end WR3, Jackson is a bounce back candidate given the upgrades the team made at quarterback and offensive coordinator.
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