With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers having their bye last week, fantasy football managers have been left sweating on the status of Mike Evans. Evans left the Buccaneers’ matchup with the New Orleans Saints in Week 4 due to a hamstring issue.
The hope was that with a week off, he would be available for Tampa Bay and fantasy managers. Let’s take a look at the latest injury update for Evans and the fantasy impact of the news.
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Latest News Surrounding Mike Evans
We got some conflicting information regarding Evans’ status on Thursday. Initial reports indicated that the big WR was absent from the media portion of practice, drawing the assumption he would miss his second straight day. However, when the Buccaneers’ practice report was released, Evans was listed as a limited participant.
That change is important, given that Evans was absent from practice on Thursday. It will now be just as important to see if he can practice on Friday. It’s unlikely, but not impossible, that he would be a full participant on Friday. However, if Evans remains limited, that is promising. Meanwhile, a downgrade to a non-participant would be a concerning sign.
Ahead of practice on Friday, Buccaneers’ head coach Todd Bowles told reporters that Evans is “full go” for Sunday. That is a very promising sign of his availability for fantasy managers.
Will Evans Play This Week?
As of Friday morning, Evans very much felt like a 50-50 proposition as to whether he would be active on Sunday. However, Bowles’ statement changed that. Now it seems like Evans will be on the field, barring a setback, and may not even be listed as questionable this week.
With the Buccaneers playing in the late afternoon window, that could have created headaches for fantasy managers. Therefore, some clarity around Evans’ status on Friday is more than welcome.
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The last thing to watch out for on Friday is a setback for Evans. It seems as though he has come through Thursday’s limited practice well and without a setback. However, he is not totally out of the woods yet, as he still has one more practice to get through unscathed.
What Does This Mean for Evans’ Fantasy Ranking?
There is a lot to digest with Evans when considering him from a fantasy aspect this week.
Normally when he’s on the field, Evans is a player you roll with and don’t question it. Prior to the injury-shortened game against New Orleans, he had scored a touchdown in each of his first three games and had double-digit fantasy points in each of the main scoring formats.
The problem is two-fold. Unless you have other options playing in the late-afternoon or prime-time windows on your bench, you’re taking a risk with Evans suiting up. If he tweaks the hamstring in warm-ups or struggles to recover over the weekend heading into Sunday. If you don’t have one, and there is nothing on the waiver wire, you may not be able to take the risk this week.
The second issue is that hamstring issues are tricky things for wide receivers. So much of their game relies on speed and quick twitch movements. While Evans is not a burner in the traditional sense of the word, part of his game is creating space to make those catches, and hamstring issues could hamper that.
That uncertainty is reflected in PFN’s Consensus Fantasy Rankings and the volatility in his positioning. Overall, Evans is the WR43 early on Sunday, but that is largely due to a very low ranking from Jason Katz, who is dubious that Evans will suit up.
The other three analysts all have Evans ranked higher. Derek Tate is the most cautious of the three, with Evans at WR28, while Kyle Soppe is the most bullish at WR11. All three have him within the startable range in 12-team leagues, either as a starting WR or Flex option.
In PFN’s Start/Sit Optimizer, Evans is currently projected as being the second-highest scoring Buccaneers’ WR with 9.1 projected fantasy points. He sits narrowly behind Chris Godwin but far ahead of the other pass-catching options on the team.