Buccaneers WR Mike Evans Is This Era’s Larry Fitzgerald

There is no question that Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans is great. Not only is he the best offensive player in Bucs history, but he stacks up well in the history of the NFL. We’re talking Hall of Fame and arguably a top ten player at his position all time kind of great. 

Evans is recognized for having the longest streak of 1,000 yard receiving seasons in NFL history, but his greatest goes beyond that. He also has the sixth most yards ever through eleven seasons and he has the ninth most touchdown receptions in NFL history. We are witnessing one of the truly great careers a wide receiver has ever put together.

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However, some are fast to discredit Evans’ place in history. They point to a lack of dominance during his time. Going as far as to call his accomplishments a “longevity award”, despite him reaching these levels faster than almost anyone.

To a degree, those people are right. Evans doesn’t have the stretch of dominance that someone like Julio Jones or Antonio Brown had. In fact, I can’t point to a single time in his career where I could argue that Evans was the best wide receiver in the NFL. 

However, that in no way should take away from how incredible Evans has been. In fact, there is another first ballot Hall of Famer that you could say all the same things about. Someone who was consistently great, but never the dominant force in the NFL.

Larry Fitzgerald played in the league for seventeen seasons. He was one of the best receivers in the game for most of that time. There probably wasn’t a player in his era who was a better blend in terms of a combination of top end play and consistency. 

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All this resulted in Fitzgerald finishing his career ranked second all time in receiving yards and sixth all time in receiving touchdowns. Most would agree that Fitzgerald was one of the best to ever play the game, perhaps even a top five wide receiver ever.

Of course, you could say all of those things about Evans as well. Consistently great, although never dominant. And in terms of statistical rankings, Evans has a chance to be near the top five for both receiving yards and touchdowns this time two years from now.

So what separates these two in terms of their status among the best to ever do it? In truth, absolutely nothing. While Fitzgerald has currently played six more seasons than Evans, Evans first eleven seasons were considerably more impressive. To be specific, Evans had 533 more yards and 16 more touchdowns while also playing two fewer games through his first eleven years.

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It’s also worth noting that Evans’ best season in terms of receiving yards was better than Fitzgerald’s and the same is true about touchdowns scored in a year. So if we are looking at peaks, you could argue that Evans was better in his best years.

However, that would be splitting hairs. Fitzgerald had two more 1,300+ receiving yard seasons than Evans, while Evans had four more years of 1,000 yards and more seasons scoring double digit touchdowns. Overall, these two are very comparable.

In reality, it will come down to these final few years for Evans in terms of how he stacks up to Fitzgerald. While we don’t know how many more years Evans will play, I find it unlikely that he will make up the nearly 5,000 yard advantage that Fitzgerald has on him. However, the 16 receiving touchdown discrepancy could be made up as early as this season; although that would require a new career high in touchdowns for a year by Evans.

In the end, both of these guys will be near the top of NFL all time leaderboards. Both of these icons were top five players at their position for most of their careers. And both will be first ballot Hall of Fame inductees. 

Perhaps not everyone appreciates Evans in the midst of his career right now. But the numbers don’t lie. We are looking at one of the most productive players to ever play the game and he is achieving that faster than all but a handful in the history of the sport. He might not have the notoriety of a legend like Fitzgerald, but at this point Evans stacks up well and is on a better pace at this point in his career.

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Should Evans continue his pace over the next two or three years then he will certainly pass Fitzgerald in touchdowns and come close to him in receiving yards. Above all, as I’m sure both would tell you, Evans will have the thing that matters most to both in one or two more Super Bowl championship rings on his finger.