27 Days, 27 Picks: WR Mike Evans
In 27 Days, 27 Picks, Bucs Wire will analyze the last 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round draft picks, one for each day leading up to the 2023 NFL draft. We’ll take a look at the player’s college stats, their pre-draft numbers (either via the NFL Combine or their Pro Day), their NFL stats, some player footage and analysis at the end on whether the pick itself was a good one.
The next player in our 27 Days, 27 Picks series is a man who needs no introduction for Bucs fans. He was Jason Licht’s first pick as GM, and it’s safe to say that it worked out in the end.
Check out the rundown on WR Mike Evans’ draft process below:
College Stats
Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports
Mike Evans played college football at Texas A&M. He was a consensus All-American and was named to the All-SEC first team in 2013.
Year | G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
2012 | 13 | 82 | 1105 | 13.5 | 5 |
2013 | 13 | 69 | 1394 | 20.2 | 12 |
Total | 26 | 151 | 2499 | 16.5 | 17 |
Pre-Draft Measurements
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Bench press |
6 ft 4 3/4 in | 225 | 35 1/8 in | 9 5/8 in | 4.53s | 2.66s | 4.26s | 7.08s | 37 in | 12 reps |
Pick Selected
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Mike Evans was selected with the No. 7 pick in the 2014 NFL draft.
Player selected before him: OT Jake Matthews, Atlanta Falcons
Player selected after him: CB Justin Gilbert, Cleveland Browns
NFL Stats
(AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Mike Evans has played 9 seasons in the NFL, all for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was named a second-team All-Pro in 2016 and has been elected to the Pro Bowl four times.
Year | G | Rec | Tgts | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng | FD | Fum |
2014 | 15 | 68 | 124 | 1051 | 15.5 | 12 | 56 | 46 | 0 |
2015 | 15 | 74 | 147 | 1206 | 16.3 | 3 | 68 | 63 | 1 |
2016 | 16 | 96 | 175 | 1321 | 13.8 | 12 | 45 | 81 | 0 |
2017 | 15 | 71 | 135 | 1001 | 14.1 | 5 | 42 | 55 | 1 |
2018 | 16 | 86 | 139 | 1524 | 17.7 | 8 | 72 | 69 | 1 |
2019 | 13 | 67 | 118 | 1157 | 17.3 | 8 | 67 | 54 | 0 |
2020 | 16 | 70 | 109 | 1006 | 14.4 | 13 | 50 | 55 | 0 |
2021 | 16 | 74 | 114 | 1035 | 14.0 | 14 | 46 | 56 | 0 |
2022 | 15 | 77 | 127 | 1124 | 14.6 | 6 | 63 | 53 | 0 |
Total | 137 | 683 | 1188 | 10425 | 15.3 | 81 | 72 | 532 | 3 |
Player Footage
Pick Analysis
(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
There are players that will always be remembered as Tampa Bay Buccaneers — the likes of Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber. And just like those two, very few players to ever don a Bucs uniform have stood for the team, the culture and the fans like Mike Evans does.
GM Jason Licht couldn’t have made a better pick for his very first one at the helm. If he could go back in time and do it again, he’d pick Evans every time, because the Texas A&M wideout was for quite some time one of the only shining bright spots in an otherwise dark age for Tampa Bay. After that, when Tom Brady arrived, the league found out what Bucs fans knew all along — that he’s one of the NFL’s most vaunted weapons.
From his thousand-yard streak and his brawls with Saints CB Marshon Lattimore and everything in between, Evans is 100% a Buccaneer legend through and through. It will be a sad day when he no longer plays in Tampa Bay, because the Bucs won’t just lose a player, but a symbol of the red and pewter.
