Buccaneers lose Mike Evans in PFF's 2014 NFL re-draft
Pro Football Focus has done a good job this offseason by starting a re-draft series that we have been tracking here on Bucs Wire. In their latest draft, they looked back on, it just so happens to be one of the more impactful ones in recent memory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise: The 2014 NFL Draft.
In that class, the Bucs landed the best player in franchise history in Mike Evans. In this exercise, however, he does not make it to the Bucs' selection; instead, he is taken off the board second overall by the Rams. The then St. Louis-based Rams missed out on one Hall of Famer in Aaron Donald since he went overall to the Texans, but they got another in Evans.
Trevor Sikkema, who wrote up the selections, explains the Rams' pick, saying, "Evans has already put together a historic NFL career. His receiving yardage total hasn't dipped below 1,000 in any of his first 11 seasons, and his elite 92.6 PFF receiving grade since his rookie campaign ranks ninth in the NFL — one spot ahead of 2014 classmate Davante Adams. Evans has shown no signs of slowing down, as his 90.2 PFF receiving grade in 2024 ranked fourth in the NFL and as the second-best mark of his illustrious career."
Evans, on the then 2014 Rams, would give them a dynamic passing attack, which would be interesting in hindsight.
Of course, the impact Aaron Donald had on the team, and Evans on the Bucs, worked out well as both players won Super Bowls with their own teams. While this is a fun "what-if," it is one of the rare instances where the picks worked out best for both teams.
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