Bucs star receiver Mike Evans picks his favorite young NFL wideouts

Greg Auman

NFL Reporter

This fall, Bucs receiver Mike Evans has a chance to break Jerry Rice’s record of 11 consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards, a mark Evans matched in 2024. He has topped the 1,000-yard threshold every year of his career, so it’s not surprising that Evans has more receiving yards over the past decade (11,633 yards) than any other NFL pass-catcher.

At age 31 and entering his 12th NFL season, Evans continues to build on a Hall of Fame résumé. Last season, he passed 100 career touchdowns. So who better to ask about the next generation of wide receivers? At Bucs minicamp, Evans took some time to talk with FOX Sports about his favorite young receivers across the league.

EVANS: Wait, what does young mean?

FOX Sports: Young, for you these days, is most everybody, right?

EVANS: Everybody but like D-Hop (DeAndre Hopkins), Davante (Adams) and (Brandin) Cooks.

FOX Sports: We’ll say first four or five years in the league then.

EVANS: Ja’Marr Chase. He’s a guy where if you said he was better than me — I don’t think anybody’s better than me — but if you said him, I would understand. So Ja’Marr, Justin Jefferson, Nico Collins, Drake (London).

FOX Sports: Nobody is going to argue with you on Jefferson. What do you like about Nico?

EVANS: He’s kind of like a mix of me and Julio Jones. He’s 6-4, 6-5, but he can run up and catch like Julio and he has muscles like Julio. He has the length like me. I love Nico’s game.

FOX Sports: You mentioned the Falcons‘ Drake London, who you get to face twice a year. He’s a guy people will compare to you, because of the size and athleticism.

EVANS: I’ve known Drake since he was in high school. (Former Bucs receivers coach) Andrew Hayes-Stoker was recruiting him (while at Illinois) and he asked me to reach out to him. I looked him up a little bit and was like, “Man, this dude can hoop, and he can play football.” So he was similar to me, and I’ve always been a fan of his game. We still talk sometimes, and we’ve swapped jerseys a few times.

FOX Sports: Anybody younger? First or second-year guys?

EVANS: (Bucs rookie) Emeka (Egbuka) is extremely polished already. He reminds me of Chris (Godwin) so much, and he’s really explosive and smart. He’s going to have a great career. Brian Thomas, Malik Nabers … is A.J. Brown young? I like them all. The game is a passing league now even more.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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