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It's hard to describe Lovie Smith's decision to bench Mike Glennon in favor of Josh McCown considering how quickly Smith named him the starter during the offseason. Under Smith's direction, the Buccaneers have been turned into one of the worst teams in the NFL and they're at a point where it's almost impossible for them to think that they can enjoy short-term success of any real consequence. Therefore, benching Glennon for the old, unimpressive McCown is a bad decision.
The quarterback change in Tampa Bay isn't really a big issue because neither player is expected to start over the long term and neither were exceptionally impressive when on the field this year.
What is more significant is the potential disruption that may come for the rest of the offense. More specifically, for rookie wide receiver Mike Evans. The former Texas A&M prospect had endured a relatively quiet start to his career with the Buccaneers. While Evans never truly possessed great speed on the field in college, his early professional tape made him look very slow in comparison to what the Buccaneers likely would have expected. That lack of on-field speed slowed his production as Evans managed just 21 receptions for 258 yards and two touchdowns over his first five NFL games.
Over the past two weeks Evans appeared to be improving while playing with Glennon. During that time, he managed 11 receptions for 202 yards and two touchdowns with most of that production coming last week against the Cleveland Browns.
The question remains, was Glennon the key for Evans improvement or is this simply a sign of natural rookie development? Despite Andy Dalton's collapse on Thursday night, the Browns don't have spectacular defensive backs to match up to Evans so it would make sense that he takes his first big step in the NFL against this kind of opposition. Evans had no issue catching passes before then and with Josh McCown as the starting quarterback, but the big plays down the field have been prominent recently.
On Evans' first four targets, three went deep down the field. Only one was caught, but each of the three plays were impressive for Evans on the whole.
Evans caught the first of those down the sideline when he adjusted to a well thrown pass from Glennon. This is the type of throw that you don't expect McCown to make, but Glennon wasn't making it consistently either. Evans showed off an ability to create separation deep against defenders in off coverage on the following two targets. One was ruined by Evans himself as he dropped a backshoulder pass that he was expecting to lead him further downfield. The other turned into an interception when Glennon horribly underthrew his intended receiver for the tipped pick.
Throughout the start of this game, Evans was showing off an ability to manipulate off-coverage with his routes to come free deep.
For his first touchdown of the game, the Browns blitzed to leave every receiver running down the field alone against single coverage. Evans is lined up in the slot and is eventually matched up against a safety coming across the field. He shows good footwork and body control to bait the defensive back underneath before brushing past him down the seam. A well-timed pass from Glennon gave him a relatively simple reception in the end zone for a touchdown.
Working against off coverage should be tougher for a receiver of Evans' size, but his athleticism began to show in this game. After that start, it's no surprise that the Browns looked to get more aggressive with the receiver. In the third quarter, Evans scored his second touchdown, but this time against press coverage.
Although Evans is facing press coverage, the defensive back doesn't aggressively engage him at the snap. Instead he drops backwards to mirror his route down the field. The defender covers Evans well, but the backshoulder throw negates that coverage and gives Evans a chance to make a play on the ball. Evans shows off excellent ball skills on this play to adjust to the outside pass. This pass wasn't a simple one. It's the kind of pass Glennon flashes every so often, but it's the kind of pass that Josh McCown can't make comfortably.
For his longest reception of the game, Evans beat press coverage with a double move.
Evans does a good job getting free down the field, but he doesn't do it quickly. Glennon is forced to hold the ball in the pocket and deliver an accurate, on time throw to his receiver. Evans made a good catch in between two defenders, but he didn't really create a huge amount of separation or make an outstanding catch at the end of the play. While that's not a fair criticism in a vacuum, it's the kind of thing that needs to be considered now that the Buccaneers are changing their quarterback.
McCown has never really shown off an ability to make these kinds of throws. In Chicago, he was reliant on Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall winning at the catch point because his passes didn't arrive quickly with precision. Evans isn't at the point in his career when he can consistently dominate at the catch point and he doesn't possess Sammy Watkins or Odell Beckham's ability to create separation and YAC underneath.
With Evans' ability to make big plays down the field, the Buccaneers would get the most out of him by having a more aggressive and talented downfield thrower. The Buccaneers offense should be more limited, not more explosive with McCown under center. Moving forward, it appears that Evans' potential for production is largely reliant on him scoring touchdowns.
