Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans is just seven yards away from another 1,000-yard season entering Sunday’s Week 12 showdown with the Atlanta Falcons.
It would be the sixth-straight 1,000-yard season for Evans, tying him with Hall of Famer Randy Moss for the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons by a receiver to start a career.
That’s all well and good, but let’s keep in mind that Evans just turned 26 at the end of August. He’s just entering his prime.
So, if Evans manages to stay healthy, could he possibly do the unthinkable and one day break Jerry Rice’s record of 11-straight 1,000-yard seasons?
I’m sure many people are wondering how many 1,000-yard seasons Rice had to start his career. Well, it turns out, he came up 73 yards short in his rookie season. After that, however, there was no stopping Rice on his historic and Hall of Fame-worthy tear through the NFL over the next 11 years.
Take a look.
Rice would ultimately go on to have 14 seasons with 1,000 receiving yards, most in NFL history.
Back to Evans, though.
He shows no signs of slowing down at the moment. The only question, though, is how long can he keep this production up? And, should Tampa Bay decide to start over at the quarterback position through the draft, Evans could be part of a rebuilding process on offense, one where a rookie might not get it to him as consistently as he’s used to.
Still, if there’s one receiver in the NFL you should never bet against, it’s Evans. He’s only scratching the surface of what he can do. I’m sure those Madden ratings folks feel embarrassed now.
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