Mike Evans (wide receiver)

High school career

Evans attended Ball High School in Galveston, Texas, where he played basketball, football, and ran track. In basketball, he averaged 18.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists as a senior. He only played football during his senior year, earning second-team District 24-4A honors after making 25 receptions for 648 yards and seven touchdowns.

In track & field, Evans competed in the jumping events. He got personal-best leaps of 14.11 meters in the triple jump and 6.28 meters in the long jump. He also posted a 4.54 time in the 40-yard dash at football camp and was a member of the 4 × 100m and 4 × 200m relay squads.

He was recruited by Texas A&M as a wide receiver and eventually signed to play for the Aggies.

College career

While attending Texas A&M University, Evans played for the Texas A&M Aggies football team from 2011 to 2013. After being redshirted as a freshman in 2011, he had 82 receptions for 1,105 yards and five touchdowns in 2012. He received freshman All-SEC honors from the league's coaches.

In the Alabama game during the 2013 season, Evans caught seven passes for a school-record 279 yards. He received AT&T ESPN All-America Player of the Week honors. During the 2013 Auburn game, he broke his own record after he compiled 11 receptions for 287 yards and four touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2013, Evans was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection. On December 17, 2013, it was announced that Evans was selected to the 2013 AP All-America Team, First Team. Evans finished the 2013 season with 69 receptions for 1,394 yards and twelve touchdowns.

College statistics

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Pre-draft

On January 2, 2014, Evans announced that he would forgo his final two seasons of his collegiate eligibility and enter the 2014 NFL Draft. The majority of analysts and scouts projected him to be a consensus top 10 pick and a first round draft selection. He was ranked the top wide receiver in the draft by Sports Illustrated and the second best wide receiver by NFLDraftScout.com.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Evans with the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, one pick behind teammate Jake Matthews. It was the first time Texas A&M had two top-7 draft picks in the same draft since John Kimbrough and Jim Thomason in 1941. He was the second wide receiver taken after Sammy Watkins was picked by the Buffalo Bills with the fourth overall pick.

On June 12, 2014, Evans signed a four-year rookie contract worth $14.6 million, with an $8.96 million signing bonus.

2014 season

Evans made his professional regular season debut in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season-opener against the Carolina Panthers and made five receptions for 37-yards. On September 28, 2014, Evans had caught four passes for 65 receiving yards and caught his first career touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Mike Glennon in a 27-24 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. In a Week 9 matchup against the Cleveland Browns, Evans caught seven passes for 124 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a 22-17 loss. The following week, he had seven catches for 125 receiving yards and a touchdown in a 27-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. On November 16, 2014, in a 27-7 victory over the Washington Redskins, Evans caught seven passes for 209-yards and two touchdowns. He became the first rookie receiver to have three consecutive games of 100 yards and at least one touchdown since Randy Moss in 1998. He also became the youngest player in the history of the NFL to catch for 200 or more yards in one game. Evans is also the fifth rookie since the Super Bowl era to record 200 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a game, the last player was Anquan Boldin in 2003. He received NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance.

He finished his rookie season with 68 receptions for 1,051 yards and 12 touchdowns, setting franchise records and becoming a part of the first pair of Buccaneers receivers (alongside veteran Vincent Jackson) to receive 1,000 yards in a single season together. Evans was ranked fourth in receiving touchdowns and was 1 of 15 players to score 10 touchdowns.

2015 season

On September 20, 2015, Evans appeared in his first game of the season against the New Orleans Saints after missing the season-opener with a hamstring injury. The next week, Evans caught seven passes for 101 receiving yards in a 19-9 loss to the Houston Texans. During a Week 7 matchup with the Washington Redskins, Evans caught eight passes for a season-high 164 yards and a touchdown in a 31-30 loss. On November 8, 2015, Evans caught eight passes for 150 receiving yards in a 32-18 loss to the New York Giants. The following game, he finished with another eight receptions for 126 yards during a 10-6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. On December 17, 2015, he made a season-high nine receptions for 157 yards against the St. Louis Rams.

Through 15 games, Evans racked up 1,206 yards and three touchdowns, with an average of 16.3 yards per catch. Among sophomore wide receivers, Evans ranked third in receiving yards (behind Odell Beckham Jr. and Allen Robinson). Evans was ranked 11th in the league in receiving yards, one of only 26 players to break 1,000 yards and one of 11 players to break 1,200 yards.

2016 season

Evans started the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season-opener making five receptions for 99-yards and a touchdown in a 31-24 defeat of the Atlanta Falcons. On September 25, 2016, Evans caught 10 passes for 132 receiving yards and a touchdown in a 37-32 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Evans became the first player in Buccaneers' history to catch a touchdown pass in three consecutive games to start a season. During a Week 7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, Evans caught eight passes for 96-yards and two touchdowns. On November 3, 2016, he caught a season-high 11 passes for 150 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a 43-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He caught a pass on the sidelines which was debated as the "catch of the year" at NFL.com and suffered a helmet-to-helmet hit on the play and was placed on concussion protocol. On November 27, 2016, he caught eight passes for 104 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a 14-5 victory over the Seattle Seahawks becoming the fourth player in NFL history to begin his career with three consecutive seasons of 1,000 yards receiving, as well as the first receiver in franchise history to receive two touchdowns in the first quarter of a game. On December 20, 2016, Evans was selected to the Pro Bowl, the first of his career. His selection made him the first Buccaneers receiver since Vincent Jackson in 2012 to be picked, and the first receiver drafted by the Buccaneers to be selected for the Pro Bowl since Mark Carrier in 1989. On January 1, 2017, Evans caught 5 passes for 65 yards and 1 touchdown in a 17-16 win against the Carolina Panthers tying his franchise record of 12 receiving touchdowns in a single season.

Evans finished his third season with 96 receptions for 1,322 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in 16 starts.

2017

On April 17, 2017, the Buccaneers picked up the fifth-year option on Evans's contract.

Buccaneers franchise records