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While Bucs safety Antoine Winfield Jr. made the All-Pro first team, wide receiver Mike Evans picked up a second-team nod with the AP All-Pro teams announced on Friday.
For Evans, it is his second second-team All-Pro nod, with his first coming back in 2016. This is the latest recognition for Evans, who was recently picked for the 2024 Pro Bowl for the fifth time in his iconic career.
All-Pro Selection Is The Latest Feather In Mike Evans Hall Of Fame Cap
Mike Evans recently said that while he “likes individual accolades,” he is not one to scream them out loud. He has been the epitome of a player who lets his production on the field do the talking. Of course, it has spoken volumes this season as Evans had 79 catches for 1,255 receiving yards and a league-leading 13 touchdowns.
Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today
These numbers made him more than deserving of being an All-Pro this year, and it showed that Mike Evans has just as much “juice” as the younger wave of wide receivers. That is a credit to his savviness at the position and how he continues finding ways to get open and produce.
This accolade is just the latest boon to Mike Evans’ lengthy resume, but during a season of many highs and lows for the Bucs, the longtime star has never made things about himself. Instead, he just keeps playing and focusing on ball. It has paid off on the field, and it will likely help his bank account when he inks a new deal in the offseason.
“The competitiveness of the guy – he just keeps playing,” Canales said recently. “He just keeps finding a way to fight, to scrap. And [he is] really just a humble guy, too. There were games [where] he had every right to be frustrated and games that were hard for us and he never turned on the offense. He never made a big scene about Mike and these things.
“He just kept working and he found a way to get himself back to focus by the next drive. That’s been a blessing for me and something that I really respect out of him.”
Mike Evans’ Football Acumen Has Been On Display This Season
Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales has gotten the chance to utilize Mike Evans within his offense this year, and he has enjoyed deploying him in various ways. Canales has gone on record for saying that Evans is the best wide receiver he has worked with and is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Evans’ football acumen is something that Canales really cannot quantify.
Bucs WR Mike Evans, OC Dave Canales and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
“There’s this football intelligence – we call it ‘FBI’ in the building – this football IQ where he just really knows how to stem routes and get himself open,” Canales said. “He’s so used to teams double-covering him, triple-covering him at times. For him to be able to find the right stem to get him access in the route and then finish at the top – it’s the craziest thing when you see teams double [cover] and then all of a sudden the quarterback starts to work the other side of the field and try to find a completion there.
“You watch the film later and he found a way to get open. He gives you confidence that he’s going to present himself at the right time. It’s all of those things that you can’t quantify and you can’t really just teach it all in a moment – it’s things that happen over time, over a career.”
Mike Evans has had a storied career with the Bucs, and if this All-Pro nod demonstrates one thing, it is that he is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Bucs Rookie Draft Class Paid Dividends In Playoff Run
Antoine Winfield Jr. Named First-Team All-Pro
