Why Mike Evans should still be on your radar in fantasy football
Since his inaugural season with the Buccaneers in 2014, Evans has been a big play waiting to happen at wide receiver. Throughout his first six seasons, Evans has averaged 15.7 yards per reception. Not to mention, he’s eclipsed 17+ yards per reception in the past two seasons.
Furthermore, just this past season, with Jameis Winston as his quarterback, Evans managed to record an aDOT (average depth of target) of 15.3 yards. That was good enough for sixth-best in the NFL for wide receivers that tallied 50+ targets in 2019. Just the season prior in 2018, Evans was fifth in aDOT (15.7 yards) among wide receivers to record 50+ targets.
So the question for some fans is: Can Evans continue being a vertical threat if arguably the greatest quarterback of all time — who happens to be on the latter part of his career — is feeding him the ball? The answer is a resounding yes and here’s why.
In his final season with the New England Patriots, it was evident that Brady was working with an underwhelming group of pass-catchers — outside of Julian Edelman and James White. Still, contrary to what some believe, Brady managed to finish as one of the best deep passers in the NFL in 2019.
The six-time Super Bowl champion attempted 60 passes that exceeded 20+ yards down the field (15th most in the NFL). On those 60 attempts, Brady managed to notch a 41.7 completion percentage (ninth-best in the NFL on passes over 20+ yards). Provided that, once again, Evans appears to be a safe wide receiver to bet on in fantasy football in the upcoming campaign.