It seems as though there is no guarantee that Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans will play on Sunday after sustaining a hamstring injury. This is very concerning since Tampa Bay is coming off a bye in Week 13. Will Mike Evans play with the fantasy football playoffs kicking off this week? Or will his new injury force him out against the Minnesota Vikings?
Sunday, December 13th: Mike Evans is active for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 14 matchup.
WR Mike Evans downgraded on Thursday’s practice report
After a bye week, you would think the team would come back at full strength, but apparently not. After being listed as a limited participant on Wednesday, Mike Evans was downgraded and did not participate during Thursday’s practice, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Evans’ day off could simply be precautionary. Friday’s practice participation should provide a better idea about his chances for Sunday’s game.
Evans has played all 12 games this season. He has 48 catches for 613 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season.
The Buccaneers need Mike Evans to play due to his field-stretching ability. Since 2018, Evans ranks fourth in yards per reception (minimum 100 catches) with 16.39. Unfortunately, in 2020, whether due to Tom Brady or a lack of chemistry, he ranks 32nd with 12.77 (minimum 50 targets).
Fellow WR Chris Godwin was a full participant on Thursday
It appears the two wideouts are on different paths. WR Chris Godwin was a full participant on Thursday after missing Wednesday’s session.
The news of Godwin will be somewhat lost in the Mike Evans injury. During the bye week, Godwin underwent a procedure to have 10 pins removed from his left index finger that he has played with the past four weeks.
Godwin suffered a broken finger making a touchdown catch against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7 and missed just one game.
After a slow start to the season, it seems the Bucs are trying to get Mike Evans more involved
While this might seem like a no-brainer to most of you, it’s been a real thing in 2020. Through the first nine games of the year, Mike Evans averaged just 5.8 targets per game. It wasn’t as if Mike Evans was not playing. He was averaging 85% of the team’s offensive snaps. Even in his limited work, Evans was the WR19, averaging 13.3 PPR points per game.
Over the last three weeks, however, Evans’ target numbers have jumped considerably to 9.7 targets per game.
With someone as explosive as Evans, it only seems logical to get him the ball or at least give him opportunities to make a big play. Mike Evans leads the Buccaneers in fantasy points per touch in 2020, with 3.65. Godwin is at 2.51 point per touch, with Antonio Brown at 1.66.
Will Mike Evans’ hamstring injury keep him from playing this week?
After seeing a downgraded status, it is too early to tell until we see the Friday report. If it is the same as Thursday, then there should be a serious concern for fantasy managers banking on Evans and his 18.5 PPR points over the last three games.
The one thing to remember is this is a perfect reminder of why Bruce Arians and the team went and got Antonio Brown. If Godwin, or in this case Evans goes down, they have one of the generation’s best WRs that can step in.
If we see Mike Evans get over his hamstring injury and he plays, the matchup is phenomenal. Coming off four touchdowns in his last three games, the Bucs now play the Vikings. Minnesota has allowed 19 receiving touchdowns to wide receivers this year, second-most in the NFL.
They’ve allowed the fourth-most PPR points per game to receivers. This includes a massive 2.00 PPR points per target. There’s a good chance this will be a high scoring game when looking at the totals. If healthy, Evans will be a high-end WR2. However, there is always the chance of a flare-up and him getting pulled from a great matchup. When you are win or go home in your fantasy playoffs, the risk vs. reward couldn’t be higher.
If Evans is out, Antonio Brown (65% in Yahoo) will see an uptick as well as Scotty Miller (5%) and rookie Tyler Johnson (<1%).
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Tommy Garrett is a writer for PFN covering Fantasy Football. You can read more of his work here and follow him at @TommygarrettPFN on Twitter.