Lee Evans

[WildBills]

lee evans should not be starting until he shows that he wants to put forth the effort that the young guys are giving.

Edited December 1, 2010 by Lets Go Bills

[Billsguy]

lee evans should not be starting until he shows that he wants to put forth the effort that the young guys are giving.

 

Evans is being paid like an elite receiver. He is seriously not elite. The $9 million per year that he is stealing from the Bills could be utilized better. However, the Bills can't trade him because the rest of the league already knows he's not worth the money.

 

He is an overrated player and he is not productive. Period.

[Gugny]

lee evans should not be starting until he shows that he wants to put forth the effort that the young guys are giving.

I think Evans is, and always has been, overrated. But he is a very solid #2 receiver. He should be on the field every offensive play. But he's simply not the #1 guy, and when he was, he failed at it. Not miserably, but he failed.

 

I do think there's a lack of effort at times. He's unwilling to sacrifice his body for a catch. And his route running is lazy.

 

He doesn't come back for balls like the true #1 receivers do.

 

He is immensely talented and he's a huge reason for Stevie Johnson's success. But every #1 WR needs a good #2 WR ... and that's who he is to SJ.

[MRW]

I think Evans is, and always has been, overrated. But he is a very solid #2 receiver. He should be on the field every offensive play. But he's simply not the #1 guy, and when he was, he failed at it. Not miserably, but he failed.

 

I do think there's a lack of effort at times. He's unwilling to sacrifice his body for a catch. And his route running is lazy.

 

He doesn't come back for balls like the true #1 receivers do.

 

He is immensely talented and he's a huge reason for Stevie Johnson's success. But every #1 WR needs a good #2 WR ... and that's who he is to SJ.

Does calling a guy a "#1" or "#2" receiver really mean a damn thing beyond people's obsessive need to rank everything? How many plays are run with one receiver on the field? It's a passing league, your top two receivers are going to be starters and play the vast majority of offensive snaps. If Evans isn't good enough to be a starter, then I'll be concerned about his salary. But arguing about whether he or Johnson is "#1" strikes me as pointless.

[cantankerous]

Does calling a guy a "#1" or "#2" receiver really mean a damn thing beyond people's obsessive need to rank everything? How many plays are run with one receiver on the field? It's a passing league, your top two receivers are going to be starters and play the vast majority of offensive snaps. If Evans isn't good enough to be a starter, then I'll be concerned about his salary. But arguing about whether he or Johnson is "#1" strikes me as pointless.

 

When it's a critical point in the game...Fitz said he's going to Johnson, not Evans. There is definitely a point to that. On the play where Johnson dropped the pass in the end zone, I believe he was the ONLY receiver on the field. That says something.

[The Big Cat]

When it's a critical point in the game...Fitz said he's going to Johnson, not Evans. There is definitely a point to that. On the play where Johnson dropped the pass in the end zone, I believe he was the ONLY receiver on the field. That says something.

 

Meh, you're basing on this on the phrase he let slip then caught, "He's our guy...err he's ONE of our guys."

 

I'm not saying your interpretation is wrong, but lest we forget, several plays prior to the heavenly stupendous throw he had to Johnson, he fired one across the middle to Lee that he didn't come down with. So, if we are saying there's a priority, in actuality, he did go to Lee first...

[Gugny]

Does calling a guy a "#1" or "#2" receiver really mean a damn thing beyond people's obsessive need to rank everything? How many plays are run with one receiver on the field? It's a passing league, your top two receivers are going to be starters and play the vast majority of offensive snaps. If Evans isn't good enough to be a starter, then I'll be concerned about his salary. But arguing about whether he or Johnson is "#1" strikes me as pointless.

You make a very good point.

[QB Bills]

Admittedly I'm a biased Lee Evans fan, but did anyone notice the prolonged block he threw so Jackson could score that long touchdown? Granted he's had a few off games the last little while, but you've got to be delusional to think he's not far and away the best WR on this team.

[Hplarrm]

Name one time Evans tried to dive for a ball. When has he went up and fought for the ball? And please don't say the Jets game when Losman threw up that prayer...the DB's knocked each other down on that miracle. (Though it was awesome).

One time? Hmm? Lets think all the way back to last Sunday (I know for some folks anything over 15 minutes is long term memory but hang in there).

 

The ball was lying on the carpet because another Bill had dropped it and if memory serves me correctly, it was Lee Evans who dived down and collected up the ball saving it for the Bills in a critical moment.

 

This clearly is one time he dived for the ball (and even better won out for it in the fight for it). This does meet your request to name one time he dived for the ball (but perhaps you are in John McCain mode after you have been given what you asked for now you will demand another study but is one that gives you the answer you want).

 

Personally, I agree with those who want to claim Evans is not a #1 quality WR as he simply has not produced all the results of a classic #1. However, though he ain't perfect I think it shows a lack of understanding about football to say that he is simply a #2 quality WR. Maybe call Evans a 1.25 quality receiver (though mostly this indicates how insufficient the #1 designation is in terms of accurately describing the game). He ain't Jerry Rice (but then who is) and he ain't even Eric Moulds (but due to his own failings which included reacting badly to Evans becoming the go-to gut as Moulds aged this also is not the prime measure.

 

Evans may not be #1 quality (yet?) but he is a lot closer to #1 quality than being a mere #2 (though the key is not simply how good an individual player is but how does the HC/OC make use of the strengths and weaknesses which ALL players have to make an effective TEAM.

 

My sense of Evans is this:

 

Positives:

 

1. Freakishly great speed.

2. Freakishly good ability to not only run the fly pattern fast but time it well and collect the ball for big scores (not a skill to be dismissed as Stevie Johnson unfortunately demonstrated for us on Sunday.

3. A better ability to make circus catches on sideline routes than he showed as a rookie such that if he has chemistry with his QB one should not fear throwing it up and letting him fight for it on sideline routes.

 

Negatives (though less than positive might be a better descriptor as none of these areas are problems for him of the severity that Josh Reed showed with his second season case of the droppsies).-

 

1. Has not shown any consistent ability to patrol the middle of the field and show the command there he has shown on fly patterns. This inability to establish his presence in the middle of the field (or on curl routes as someone said above is the primary thing which makes him a 1.25 rather than a #1 for me. He has done this at times but never with the consistency you want from a #1.

2. He has shown raw speed but has not demonstrated the in traffic moves which would allow for greater use of him on end around runs or makes for great RAC when he catches the ball in traffic.

 

I think that the complaints about Evans are rooted in reality in the sense he has not demonstrated that he is a player deserving of the Pro Bowl virtually every year. He does not produce like a Pro Bowler every single time and the real #1s threaten at least to produce like this every game. Evans is not a threat IF an opponent has a good combo of a cover guy and an ability to double-team him over and under so the cover guy does not have to get it right every single time.

 

However, though they are rooted in a real issue, it also is true that what DCs must do to solve this problem creates major room for the Bills #2. Stevie Johnson has shown this big time under Gailey's direction. The Bills never sorted this out with confusion last year on running an O which made use of the talents of both Evans and TO or with a fading quality #2 with Peerless.

 

Evans has pretty clearly demonstrated a skillset which should have made for an effective passing game. However, the Bills offense has been so troubled or virtually non existent under Jauron who never has been able to name an effective OC (even his best year where he won NFL coach of year saw a confluence of his riding the D to win an incredible number of close games) that it simply is far more likely that the problems were the lack of QB side of the equation or the inability to design routes well (even us non-professionals could see the lack of slant routes and the lack of close to the penalty line pick plays).

 

Feel free to not believe me even if I provided you with the one play you asked for that Evans dived for the ball (please do not try to make the claim that this dive was for a loose ball and not going horizontal for a pass as quite frankly the dive for the ball last weekend was an even tougher gutsier play than diving for a pass as it was guaranteed he was going to not only going to get hit on this play by opponents also diving for the ball but even worse he decided to dive into harms way where he knew he was going to get worked over under the pile for the loose rock and no penalty was going to be called so nobody was holding back. Evans not only dived for the ball but won the damn fight which ensued. This play may or may not say anything about his skill set but it does give a lie to the claims that he is a chicken as he clearly put on his man pants in this case and anyone who claims he never mans up at all is simply wrong wrong wrong.

 

If one wants further evidence, then I posted last week some interesting stuff from the Bills Daily site which cited Evans having moved into the #3 position all time for Bills in yardage and I also think for catches (this is simply lofty area where Evans is simply producing over the course of his career at a high level. He also leads the NFL for the last several years in 70+ yard catches (this is a big part of why the strong route running of Stevie Johnson has created a fearsome result as seen in actual TDs to his credit this year because Evans is very effectively at running clear outs which leave the middle of the field open for SJ to run precise routes or dts which occupy the DBs.

 

Is Evans great?

 

Nope,

 

(not the way he is used and with his #2s not demanding much attention until SJ performed as he has this year).

 

Is Evans a #1 WR?

 

Sorta. He ain't your classic #1 in that he has not yet evidenced the ability to consistently patrol and dominate th middle of the field. However, he is a lot closer to being a #1 quality WR than being "only" a #2 quality WR and those who advocate trading him (anyone can be traded for the store if you find MN willing to guarantee you the SB in exchange for Hershel Walker but it is simply silly for someone to claim that both he is bad and that they would trade this bad player for the store) or cutting him (a cut actually hurts your team as all his bonus gets accelerated into one cap year and even worse Johnson now not only does not have the advantage of running routes against Ds leaning toward Evans but he likely gets dted himself.

 

Is Evans perfect

 

No, but to claim that the course of action should be to turn this pain into agony by cutting him is just stupid and bad football.

[cantankerous]

One time? Hmm? Lets think all the way back to last Sunday (I know for some folks anything over 15 minutes is long term memory but hang in there).

 

The ball was lying on the carpet because another Bill had dropped it and if memory serves me correctly, it was Lee Evans who dived down and collected up the ball saving it for the Bills in a critical moment.

 

This clearly is one time he dived for the ball (and even better won out for it in the fight for it). This does meet your request to name one time he dived for the ball (but perhaps you are in John McCain mode after you have been given what you asked for now you will demand another study but is one that gives you the answer you want).

 

Personally, I agree with those who want to claim Evans is not a #1 quality WR as he simply has not produced all the results of a classic #1. However, though he ain't perfect I think it shows a lack of understanding about football to say that he is simply a #2 quality WR. Maybe call Evans a 1.25 quality receiver (though mostly this indicates how insufficient the #1 designation is in terms of accurately describing the game). He ain't Jerry Rice (but then who is) and he ain't even Eric Moulds (but due to his own failings which included reacting badly to Evans becoming the go-to gut as Moulds aged this also is not the prime measure.

 

Evans may not be #1 quality (yet?) but he is a lot closer to #1 quality than being a mere #2 (though the key is not simply how good an individual player is but how does the HC/OC make use of the strengths and weaknesses which ALL players have to make an effective TEAM.

 

My sense of Evans is this:

 

Positives:

 

1. Freakishly great speed.

2. Freakishly good ability to not only run the fly pattern fast but time it well and collect the ball for big scores (not a skill to be dismissed as Stevie Johnson unfortunately demonstrated for us on Sunday.

3. A better ability to make circus catches on sideline routes than he showed as a rookie such that if he has chemistry with his QB one should not fear throwing it up and letting him fight for it on sideline routes.

 

Negatives (though less than positive might be a better descriptor as none of these areas are problems for him of the severity that Josh Reed showed with his second season case of the droppsies).-

 

1. Has not shown any consistent ability to patrol the middle of the field and show the command there he has shown on fly patterns. This inability to establish his presence in the middle of the field (or on curl routes as someone said above is the primary thing which makes him a 1.25 rather than a #1 for me. He has done this at times but never with the consistency you want from a #1.

2. He has shown raw speed but has not demonstrated the in traffic moves which would allow for greater use of him on end around runs or makes for great RAC when he catches the ball in traffic.

 

I think that the complaints about Evans are rooted in reality in the sense he has not demonstrated that he is a player deserving of the Pro Bowl virtually every year. He does not produce like a Pro Bowler every single time and the real #1s threaten at least to produce like this every game. Evans is not a threat IF an opponent has a good combo of a cover guy and an ability to double-team him over and under so the cover guy does not have to get it right every single time.

 

However, though they are rooted in a real issue, it also is true that what DCs must do to solve this problem creates major room for the Bills #2. Stevie Johnson has shown this big time under Gailey's direction. The Bills never sorted this out with confusion last year on running an O which made use of the talents of both Evans and TO or with a fading quality #2 with Peerless.

 

Evans has pretty clearly demonstrated a skillset which should have made for an effective passing game. However, the Bills offense has been so troubled or virtually non existent under Jauron who never has been able to name an effective OC (even his best year where he won NFL coach of year saw a confluence of his riding the D to win an incredible number of close games) that it simply is far more likely that the problems were the lack of QB side of the equation or the inability to design routes well (even us non-professionals could see the lack of slant routes and the lack of close to the penalty line pick plays).

 

Feel free to not believe me even if I provided you with the one play you asked for that Evans dived for the ball (please do not try to make the claim that this dive was for a loose ball and not going horizontal for a pass as quite frankly the dive for the ball last weekend was an even tougher gutsier play than diving for a pass as it was guaranteed he was going to not only going to get hit on this play by opponents also diving for the ball but even worse he decided to dive into harms way where he knew he was going to get worked over under the pile for the loose rock and no penalty was going to be called so nobody was holding back. Evans not only dived for the ball but won the damn fight which ensued. This play may or may not say anything about his skill set but it does give a lie to the claims that he is a chicken as he clearly put on his man pants in this case and anyone who claims he never mans up at all is simply wrong wrong wrong.

 

If one wants further evidence, then I posted last week some interesting stuff from the Bills Daily site which cited Evans having moved into the #3 position all time for Bills in yardage and I also think for catches (this is simply lofty area where Evans is simply producing over the course of his career at a high level. He also leads the NFL for the last several years in 70+ yard catches (this is a big part of why the strong route running of Stevie Johnson has created a fearsome result as seen in actual TDs to his credit this year because Evans is very effectively at running clear outs which leave the middle of the field open for SJ to run precise routes or dts which occupy the DBs.

 

Is Evans great?

 

Nope,

 

(not the way he is used and with his #2s not demanding much attention until SJ performed as he has this year).

 

Is Evans a #1 WR?

 

Sorta. He ain't your classic #1 in that he has not yet evidenced the ability to consistently patrol and dominate th middle of the field. However, he is a lot closer to being a #1 quality WR than being "only" a #2 quality WR and those who advocate trading him (anyone can be traded for the store if you find MN willing to guarantee you the SB in exchange for Hershel Walker but it is simply silly for someone to claim that both he is bad and that they would trade this bad player for the store) or cutting him (a cut actually hurts your team as all his bonus gets accelerated into one cap year and even worse Johnson now not only does not have the advantage of running routes against Ds leaning toward Evans but he likely gets dted himself.

 

Is Evans perfect

 

No, but to claim that the course of action should be to turn this pain into agony by cutting him is just stupid and bad football.

 

Nice book you wrote. Nowhere in my posts have I said anything about cutting Lee Evans, or even benching him. I asked another poster to name a time when Evans dove for a pass a little out of his reach...you responded with "but he jumped on a fumble" LOL @ that. I would hope any player seeing a loose ball on the field would jump on it. His recent alligator arms and overall lack of production simply stand out as i'm watching games.

[The Dean]

Name one time Evans tried to dive for a ball. When has he went up and fought for the ball? And please don't say the Jets game when Losman threw up that prayer...the DB's knocked each other down on that miracle. (Though it was awesome).

 

 

Take a look for yourself, Lee goes up and fights for it. THAT was something you said you have NEVER seen. What the DBs did is irrelevant to your statement. Lee fought for the ball:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sxkXH6gZ08

 

 

Of course that isn't the only time. Your statements were stupid. Could Lee fight more for some balls? I think the answer is, "Yes". But NEVER? Ridiculous.

 

Those who say Lee won't go over the middle have to answer a few questions: Does Lee break off the pattern when he is asked to go over the middle? Or is it more likely he isn't asked to go over the middle much, as he is more valuable pulling the CB and the S AWAY from the middle of the field to leave it open for the other receivers?

 

If you look at Lee's production with the crap he has had at QB, it should be clear he would be a monster on a team with a good offense and a quality QB.

[BuffaloBillsForever]

Any videos of him running a curl route?

[Magox]

 

Those who say Lee won't go over the middle have to answer a few questions: Does Lee break off the pattern when he is asked to go over the middle? Or is it more likely he isn't asked to go over the middle much, as he is more valuable pulling the CB and the S AWAY from the middle of the field to leave it open for the other receivers?

 

If you look at Lee's production with the crap he has had at QB, it should be clear he would be a monster on a team with a good offense and a quality QB.

No, it's not clear. I would be willing to wager that when Nelson is on the field, that Lee Evans is not even the second option much less the first. He is pretty much a one trick pony with great hands. I've seen him on more than a few occassions where he is matched up with one on one coverage and he simply isn't able to create separation. He also does warrant the criticism of not coming back to the ball on certain pass plays, this is two weeks in a row now that an announcer has pointed that out in a game.

 

How many times have you seen him catch passes going up the middle? Sure, there have been a few times that he has, but do you simply believe that is because our coaches don't run those patterns for him? I'm not buying it, I would say it probably has something to do with his level of uncomfort he displays (most likely beginning in practice) going up the middle. Perfect example was this last game, he seemed scared to allow both his hands to go after the ball, and in fact only went after it with one hand. Why do you think that is? Could it be that the criticism some of us have said about regarding his inability to go up the middle could possibly be true? Certainly looked that way on that play.

 

Does he deserve to start? Yes.

 

Does he help open up the field for our other WR's?

 

Yes

 

Is he more of a decoy than a true #1WR who finds ways to get the ball?

 

Yes

 

Is he overpaid for what he does?

 

Yes.

[VADC Bills]

For years Lee has suffered by playing for a team that refused to get a QB worth a damn. Just as Moulds did.

He showed loyalty to Buffalo, has displayed excellent character and now suddenly he is garbage...please. It's nice to see the Bills finally developing some receivers. Lee is the one drawing the coverage. All receivers have drops but I can't remember ever seeing Evans drop one like Johnson did this week. He still has the best hands on the team. With a good qb Evans and Moulds could have had Marvin Harrison type numbers. Letting Evans go would be as stupid as letting Pat Williams or London Fletcher go.

[cantankerous]

Take a look for yourself, Lee goes up and fights for it. THAT was something you said you have NEVER seen. What the DBs did is irrelevant to your statement. Lee fought for the ball:

 

youtube.com/watch?v=4sxkXH6gZ08

 

 

Of course that isn't the only time. Your statements were stupid. Could Lee fight more for some balls? I think the answer is, "Yes". But NEVER? Ridiculous.

 

Those who say Lee won't go over the middle have to answer a few questions: Does Lee break off the pattern when he is asked to go over the middle? Or is it more likely he isn't asked to go over the middle much, as he is more valuable pulling the CB and the S AWAY from the middle of the field to leave it open for the other receivers?

 

If you look at Lee's production with the crap he has had at QB, it should be clear he would be a monster on a team with a good offense and a quality QB.

 

 

So...I already mentioned his ONE time he was able to wrestle the ball away from Revis (with help from the safety bowling Revis over) and you couldn't find even ONE other instance? LOL c'mon now Dean. He barely even leaves his feet on the play! If all he is asked to do is TRY to draw coverage away from others...what does that make him? A 9 million dollar decoy? He had one catch for 9 yards and he fumbled the ball away on the same play. Stop making excuses for Evans. He should be making more positive plays than he is. I did see him blocking for Fred all the way to the end zone too, i'll give him credit for that...that was big. Like most Bills fans...I just wish there was more to his game/effort.

 

 

 

[jumbalaya]

For the last two plus years he is averaging less than 3 catches a game. Now all of you Lee Lovers say he is doubled covered and if it weren't for him Stevie would get nothing. That is LOSER thinking. A lot of other WRs get double coverage and produce game in / game out. They produce over the middle, under pressure and when the game is on the line. When was the last time Lee did anything other than fumble, drop a pass or alligator arm a catch with the game on the line? Lee has turned into a quitter. He hears footsteps and hears them all of the time. And I have said this one hundred times, the day he quit playing is the day he signed his contract. Ship him out and ship him out now. Jones and Nelson out produce him and I bet Namaan Roosevelt will give twice the effort and we would get double the results.

Edited December 2, 2010 by jumbalaya

[Magox]

With a good qb Evans and Moulds could have had Marvin Harrison type numbers.

[BuffaloBillsForever]

Quiz:

 

Anyone remember Trent Edwards first interception of the pre-season in 2010?

 

You get a bonus if you can find a video clip of the play.

[Tortured Soul]

I am a LE supporter and yes he is having a disappointing season, but in my opinion Stevie is being targeted at least 3x as often as Lee. We all saw what Lee could do when Losman was locking in on him. Fitz seems to have a better chemistry with Stevie. Maybe with OTA's and training camp as a starter, Fitz can establish a similar rapport with Lee.

 

Targets

 

Steve Johnson - 99

Lee Evans - 75

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/stats/_/name/buf/buffalo-bills

[Helpmenow]

Isn't like the other 83. Man this guy is overated.