VideoFrom Matt Harmon
Mike Evans Is A Bad Man
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.
13 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Oct 15, 2026
Published
Thu, October 15, 2026
10
Player insights
10
Players mentioned
Topics
Brandin CooksBrock PurdyCeeDee LambDeebo SamuelDemarcus RobinsonDrake LondonJacob CowingJordan WatkinsMike EvansZay Flowers
Player analysis
Player insights
Brandin Cooks
PositiveRole10:05
Matt Harmon expects Brandin Cooks to play a significant role for the 49ers, noting that his intelligence and prior experience in the Rams' offense make him a logical fit for Kyle Shanahan's complex scheme. Despite having a touchdown wiped off the board by a penalty, Cooks immediately responded with another score, demonstrating his continued value to the team.
Insight pageBrock Purdy
PositiveUsage5:18
Brock Purdy has proven to be an aggressive, anticipatory thrower who benefits from having a massive target like Mike Evans. Purdy's tendency to launch deep balls pairs well with Evans, and the two have developed a strong chemistry that elevates both players' performances.
Insight pageCeeDee Lamb
NegativeUsage1:53
CeeDee Lamb is currently producing over 3.0 yards per route run, placing him among the top five most efficient full-time receivers in the NFL.
Insight pageDeebo Samuel
NegativeInjury13:26
Deebo Samuel suffered a hamstring injury during the game against the Seahawks, raising immediate concerns about his health and availability for the 49ers wide receiver corps.
Insight pageDemarcus Robinson
NegativeInjury15:07
Demarcus Robinson is currently dealing with a high ankle sprain, which has limited his route participation to 18% for the 49ers.
Insight pageDrake London
NegativeUsage1:46
Drake London is identified as one of the league's most efficient receivers, maintaining over 3.0 yards per route run and appearing alongside other top-tier names in efficiency rankings.
Insight pageJacob Cowing
NegativeInjury13:32
Jacob Cowing sustained an injury during the game against the Seahawks, adding to the mounting injury concerns for the San Francisco 49ers wide receiver group.
Insight pageJordan Watkins
Mike Evans
PositiveProjection0:00
Mike Evans is performing at an elite level, ranking in the top five among full-time receivers in yards per route run (over 3.0) and first downs per route run (19.6%). Matt Harmon highlights his 78.7% success rate against press in 2024 and notes his route tree has shifted away from go-routes (down to 16.8%) toward more efficient hitches (15%), out routes (15%), and in-routes (16%). Despite lingering injury concerns limiting him to roughly 90% health, he remains a dominant force who creates a massive strike zone for Brock Purdy, making him an 'insane bargain' for the 49ers.
Insight pageZay Flowers
NegativeUsage1:46
Zay Flowers is currently among the top-tier receivers in efficiency metrics, ranking in the top five for yards per route run (over 3.0) and leading the league in first downs per route run.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Okay, well, look, we talk about Mike
0:02Evans going absolutely ballistic here
0:04for San Francisco. 10 targets, seven
0:06grabs, 113 and a touchdown against
0:09Seattle on the road. Mike Ev Dude, and
0:12first of all, Mike Evans with the most
0:14viral moment of week five, too, where he
0:17grabs Diggs' jersey to turn him around
0:19and said, "Who is this guy?"
0:26That was so great.
0:28>> That was
0:29incredible, bro. Like
0:31it's just it's it's an unbelievable
0:33moment and we've watched so much
0:36football. I don't remember ever seeing
0:37something like that, bro. Like the the
0:39aura was off the charts. Mike Evans was
0:42on a different plane and and by the way,
0:44he also came into this into this game
0:46with some injury concerns, too, right?
0:48So, the fact that he's doing this
0:51kind of sort of banged up. I know he
0:53didn't have an injury designation, but
0:54kind of sort of not at 100%
0:57against Seattle
1:00on the road in a win to to help keep San
1:03Francisco a perfect five and 0. I don't
1:06know, man. This was an unbelievable
1:08performance from from Mike Evans.
1:12>> I
1:12What a stud. By the way, on the Diggs
1:15thing
1:16>> Yeah.
1:16>> He He was asked about it after the game
1:18and he's like, "No, I legitimately
1:20didn't know who that was." And then I
1:22turned him around and he said
1:25>> Stop.
1:26>> He said, "I didn't know who that was."
1:26And then I turned around and he goes,
1:28"Oh, that's Effin Diggs?"
1:30>> Like
1:30>> He's like, "Oh, I didn't even know he
1:31played."
1:32He's like, "He's like, yeah, we've gone
1:33up against each other. He's a pretty
1:34good player. Like, I didn't I didn't
1:35know it was him. He was out there
1:37chirping at me. Turn around."
1:40"Diggs?" Like, I mean, it was so funny.
1:43Um so, yeah.
1:44Dude.
1:45>> That's so
1:45>> Mike Evans
1:46right so far this year, fourth in the
1:48NFL in yards per route run. Zay Flowers,
1:51JSN, Drake London, Mike Evans. He's just
1:54ahead of CD Lamb. Uh those are the five
1:57guys who have over 3.0 Uh uh yards per
2:00route run among like true full-time
2:02receivers. You look at first downs per
2:05route run,
2:06he's at 19.6%
2:08only behind Zay Flowers and Jackson
2:10Smith-Njigba. And then it's him, and
2:12then it's kind of you get down to Drake
2:14London, it gets the same sort of names.
2:15So, top five in all the efficiency
2:18metrics there. He's been unbelievably
2:20good. He's been exactly what they hoped,
2:22even while yeah, I don't care what his
2:24injury designation is.
2:26Mike Evans will be 90% at best the rest
2:29of the the rest of time, you know, the
2:31rest of the season. Uh he he's clearly
2:34wincing through some of these plays, but
2:37I thought this was just a unbelievable
2:39game by Mike Evans cuz yeah, it is
2:41Seattle, and some of these are like good
2:43coverage plays, the stuff on the
2:44boundary.
2:46For for for um Josh Job who got got
2:50banged by Evans several times in this
2:52one. Um obviously the Diggs thing was
2:53the was the big one, but mostly it was
2:55like Josh Job in coverage there. Uh and
2:57then still it's a lot of those just
2:59tight coverage wins for Mike Evans.
3:02Excellent stuff obviously by him, but
3:04the amount of in-breakers that he won
3:06here as well. I count 1 2 3 4
3:10uh big in-breaking route wins for Mike
3:12Evans. And then it's some of the stuff
3:13along the sideline. Obviously it's a
3:15quick hitter. I guess you that would
3:16probably be an in-breaker, the fifth one
3:17for the touchdown like on a quick slant
3:19there where
3:20he just gets the inside leverage. And
3:22and it Tom Brady who obviously played
3:24with Mike Evans
3:26back in Tampa Bay, he talked about how
3:28Mike does this thing that he actually
3:31hates when receivers do this, but
3:33because it's my This is what This is
3:34what you get to do when you're
3:36an elite player, a Hall of Famer like
3:38Mike Evans is.
3:41You get to break the rules and Brady was
3:43saying something like it's I don't like
3:44when receivers on these in-cuts will
3:46take an outside release cuz you've got
3:48to work back inside. And this is so
3:51true. You see guys do this all the time,
3:52especially when they are in these
3:54condensed um offenses where they will
3:56take the outside release against a press
3:59corner, and then if they really struggle
4:01to snap it back inside unless you're a
4:03freak show.
4:04>> Yeah.
4:04>> Well, guess what? Mike Evans happens to
4:07be one of the best route runners in the
4:08NFL. Uh you know, he's a big receiver,
4:11but he is he's been above 70% in some of
4:14like the best press seasons I've charted
4:16cuz he has such a good set of nuance
4:19release moves. He happens to be a great
4:20route runner. And yes, happens to be a
4:23complete freak of nature. Um I posted
4:26this on Sunday. I have to share it with
4:29you here because it's just like this is
4:31Mike Evans.
4:33He is going to be this until the end of
4:36time, which is bigger than everybody
4:39else.
4:40Like he can lose however many bits of
4:42speed off of him, but he will still have
4:4595th percentile height, 97th percentile
4:48weight, and 98th percentile arm length
4:52at the wide receiver position. How many
4:54times, James, did we see on those in
4:56cuts for Mike Evans where he would get
4:59that outside release
5:01and then come back inside? It's like a
5:02sliver
5:04of separation, you know? It's like,
5:07"Okay, I don't care about separation. I
5:10care about are you open?" And Mike Evans
5:12is open because he has the 98th
5:15percentile arm.
5:16>> Yeah, right. Right. Right. Right. Right.
5:18>> like he creates this massive strike zone
5:20for Brock Purdy, who's also been one of
5:22the best and most aggressive and willing
5:24uh in-breaking route and intermediate
5:26like anticipatory throwers since he got
5:27in the NFL.
5:29>> No, listen, man. Like it's a it's a
5:31great combination. I was skeptical of it
5:35um at first, and I'll be honest, like I
5:37really wanted to see Mike go to either
5:38Kansas City or Buffalo, especially at
5:41that cost. Like it it's it what a
5:43bargain San Francisco is getting Mike
5:45Evans at, man. Like, insane bargain.
5:48Um
5:49But, no. Look, he's helped elevate Brock
5:52Purdy. Brock Purdy's helped elevate him,
5:54too. And it's a great pairing. This This
5:58combination between Purdy and Mike
6:00Evans, I think, is is awesome to watch.
6:03It's It They just go together. Their
6:06skill sets just go together. I mean, the
6:08one thing about Brock Purdy is like,
6:09yes, he will definitely blind throw a
6:11bunch of like random, you know, in
6:13breakers and all that kind of stuff.
6:15But, dude, he loves to launch it deep,
6:17as well, right? So,
6:19um it plays into some of his tendencies.
6:21And it's funny, right? Like, Brock Purdy
6:23has these tendencies, and sometimes it's
6:25it's I think in years past, sometimes
6:27it's been good, and other times it's
6:29been like, "Oh my god, what are you
6:31doing?" But, there is no "Oh my god,
6:34what are you doing?" when you're
6:35throwing it in the general vicinity of
6:37Mike Evans, you know what I mean? Like,
6:39he will make a lot of those things look
6:41okay. Uh so, yeah, no, I think it's been
6:44Like I said, it's been a fun
6:46um combination between Mike and Brock.
6:49>> I mean, yeah, again, it's just like
6:50these are the routes we're talking about
6:52here. It's the deep routes, the nine
6:53route, right? Like, dig routes, out
6:55routes, slant 84% slant routes. He's
6:58going to be able to have an 84% success
7:00rate on slant routes again until I think
7:02we're all dead in the dirt because
7:05he's just
7:06bigger than everybody else. And some of
7:08the success rate scores for Mike Evans,
7:11like, through his entire career, this is
7:12what I've always said about him. He's so
7:14underrated for how good of a route
7:16runner he is. Um 77% against press last
7:20year. Um he was 78.7%
7:23in 2024. Like, he hasn't lost that
7:26ability. His success rate versus zone
7:28definitely took a dip back in 2025,
7:30which I think was a little bit kind of
7:31worrisome, but also
7:33Remember, he was running 23% go routes.
7:35He ain't running 23% go routes this
7:37year, folks. He's running a lot of these
7:38breaking routes, which I I it help him
7:40cuz that's I think it may be been the
7:42thing that surprised me a little bit
7:43about Mike. Just is how many of these
7:46kind of layup routes, like even some of
7:47in week one against the Rams was a lot
7:49of these like quick out routes that he
7:51was running um so far like I mean that
7:53was really been impressive uh to being
7:56more of a layup receiver for them. But
7:59yeah, um Mike Evans
8:01stud dude. He They don't They don't win
8:03that game against the Seahawks and what
8:04was a crazy game too by the way because
8:07>> Amazing.
8:07>> They They had There were 38 points off
8:10penalties in that game. The broadcast
8:12had that. That was the most in any game
8:14since 2017. Seven turnovers, 38 points
8:17off those turnovers.
8:18But as always James, you come out of
8:20this game with injury concerns at the
8:23wide receiver position for the San
8:24Francisco 49ers. Deebo Samuel gets hurt
8:28on like a you know he barely looked like
8:30he got contact but he popped a
8:32hamstring. Uh Jacob Cowing got hurt. I
8:35mean
8:35>> Yeah.
8:36>> Old buddy Brandon Cooks got himself
8:38Brandon Cooks had a touchdown. It was
8:40wiped off by penalty and they went right
8:42back to him and got a touchdown. Like I
8:43think Brandon Cooks is going to end up
8:45playing a big role for this team cuz
8:47>> Yeah, man.
8:47>> like the like Mike Evans, you know, we
8:50mentioned the efficiency for him.
8:53Obviously he's had to be efficient cuz
8:54he hasn't even run a route on 70% of the
8:56dropbacks. The route participation for
8:59these guys when they've been on the
8:59field this year for San Francisco, Mike
9:01Evans 69%, Deebo Samuel 65%, Jacob
9:04Cowing 35%, Brandon Cooks 20%, uh 18%
9:08for Demarcus Robinson who's uh got a
9:10high ankle sprain. Kadarius Hodge 17%,
9:12Jordan Watkins 17%, DeSean
9:15DeSean Shribling, remember him? 9%. Um
9:17can he get back at some point? I don't
9:19know but
9:20yeah they
9:21Can they keep getting away with it? Can
9:23they keep getting away with this wide
9:24receiver stuff in San Francisco?
9:26>> It's going to be the old man wide
9:28receiver group, dude. Give me Brandon
9:30Cooks and Mike Evans like we're playing
9:32like it's, you know, 2008 all over
9:34again, bro. Like I
9:36>> Okay, 2008 is a little
9:38aggressive. These guys came into the
9:39league in 2014. Part of that legendary
9:42wide It's funny how
9:44these guys part of that legendary 2014
9:45class, like now they're starting to
9:47starting to like play together. They're
9:48starting to intersect, right?
9:51>> That's great.
9:51>> I mean, shoot, we could have even had
9:53your your OBJ
9:54thing didn't work out with the Rams cuz
9:56he's on the Vikings practice squad for
9:59you know, whatever reason, but yeah,
10:01very interesting stuff. I can't I'm
10:03fascinated to see what happens with
10:05>> the Brandin Cooks of it all because
10:06honestly, like Cooks is a really smart
10:07player and Kyle Shanahan has put like he
10:10puts a lot on his um
10:13on his wide receivers. So, I I actually
10:14do think Cooks maybe still has a little
10:17something something. I like to see him
10:18wearing number 84. Um I'm my biggest
10:21boomer take is that I I wish receivers
10:24still wore numbers in the 80s. Um I I
10:27love the receivers in the 80s. I'm I'm a
10:29classic boomer in that way, but yeah,
10:31Mike Evans route tree so far this year,
10:33I mentioned the 23% go route rate so far
10:36this year,
10:37just 16.8% go routes. Um there's
10:40definitely been some corners, but a lot
10:42of hitches, out routes 15%,
10:45uh in route 16%.
10:48Yeah, a lot of lot more of the routes
10:50that he really eats on and he's been
10:51he's been fantastic on those routes so
10:53far.
10:53>> Why why is it that I feel like if you're
10:57a wide receiver and you wear something
10:59in the 80s, you're just you're just
11:00tougher?
11:01You're just a tougher player.
11:02>> Yeah.
11:03>> You know? If you wear something in like
11:04the single digits or like in the 11s or
11:06whatever, in the 10s, I don't know.
11:09Like, you know, it seems like a little
11:10bit more finesse-y. You know what I'm
11:11saying? But when you when you rock the
11:1380 something,
11:14you know, you know that guy's going to
11:15put the dirty work in, you know?
11:18>> It's these, you know,
11:19these zoomers,
11:21whatever, you know, the Gen Z. I don't
11:23know. Something about that. But yeah,
11:25man, I do miss the receivers
11:28uh in the 80s. I think we should go back
11:30I think we should go back to that. I
11:32think we should go back.
11:32>> Even Calvin Calvin Johnson, uh
11:35then you had Michael Irvin with the 88.
11:37What what numbers did uh
11:38>> CeeDee Lamb 88
11:40>> Oh, is he the only Is he the only one?
11:44Dude, there's not a lot of 80s anymore,
11:46bro. That's like
11:48That's like pretty much dead, man.
11:49Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Like I
11:51said, I like it though. Yeah, when a
11:53receiver rocks that 80, dude, you know
11:54they're going to put the work in, you
11:55know?
11:56They're just hard workers.
11:57>> Mike Evans has put in the work in even
11:59if he's wearing number five, which is
12:00still kind of hard to look at cuz I
12:02think he I just think of him with 13
12:04Tampa, but
12:05Yeah, um by the way, Tampa Buccaneers
12:07wide receivers
12:09I know they've had other issues this
12:10year, but uh they could use They could
12:12use Mike Evans.
12:14>> But I think Mike wanted to go try
12:15something else. And you know what?
12:16Greener pastures.
12:17>> Yeah, it's been pretty damn good for San
12:19Francisco. I mean, they're five and oh,
12:20they might be the best team in the NFL.
12:21And I think they have some issues. They
12:23got to stay healthy, but yeah, it's just
12:25Man, it the route tree changed.
12:27>> Yeah, they're They probably won't. But
12:28the route tree changed for Mike Evans
12:30has been really welcomed. I mean, again,
12:32we to go back to the Harrison discussion
12:34we were having, 28% go routes for him
12:36versus 17% sub 17% for Mike Evans.
12:40>> Yeah.
12:40>> Easier to get that X receiver the
12:42consistently the football. Obviously,
12:43again, you know, you got to put the
12:44effort in the whole deal, but easier to
12:46get that X receiver the football when
12:47they're running um some routes that, you
12:50know, you can kind of breaking routes.
12:51You got to cook. It's crazy too with
12:52Brock Purdy.
12:54He He was like, "Aiyuk, dig route,
12:56boom."
12:57"Ricky Pearsall, dig routes, boom." "Now
13:00this is Mike Evans, dig route, boom."
13:02He's just like he's the
13:03Maybe he's the best dig route thrower in
13:04the NFL.
13:05>> I don't know. It's It's a Shanahan
13:06thing, dude. Like, you know, it's like,
13:08"Come on, man." Like, this is why
13:09Brandin Cooks fits, by the way, you
13:11know? Like, he played in the Rams system
13:13for a long time, and now he goes to
13:14Shanahan. It They all make sense, bro.
