The Case for and Against 49ers WR Mike Evans in Fantasy Football

Risky proposition.

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Mike Evans might be going too late in fantasy football drafts and could be a value this year, according to Justin Boone of Yahoo Sports. Boone notes that Evans comes with risk, but a lot of the risk is already assumed in his draft cost, and he has a chance to be a quality fantasy pick. 

The San Francisco 49ers have a fantasy sleeper in Mike Evans

The case for Evans is pretty clear. He is going to be the number one weapon that is run by Kyle Shanahan. Even Kendrick Bourne was getting fantasy consideration when he was in the mix for the top target, so Evans could be much more valuable than in most years. 

Beyond that, George Kittle is coming off a serious injury, and Ricky Pearsall now has two seasons with prominent injuries keeping him off the field. Christian Kirk did not look good last year, and De’Zhaun Stribling is a rookie. The lack of target competition should be valuable for Evans. 

However, the case against him can be just as strong. Evans will be 33 years old this season, and last year, it looked like his age was catching up to him. Now, he is another year older, and the injuries will only increase with his age. 

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Evans is one of the most productive receivers in the game, but even the elite receivers start to fade at this age. He has already shown the decline, so expecting him to get back to his old ways is asking a lot. 

Beyond that, he is going to a new team. While it would make sense for him to perform well in the Shanahan offense, it is a different offense than what he has run in the past. It is also a different quarterback that he has to get on the same page with. 

So, there are reasons to be skeptical. That is where the draft cost comes into play. 

As of now, Evans is going as the 22nd overall wide receiver, just below Luther Burden and just ahead of Terry McLaurin. He is not expected to be a consistent producer next year, but that is in a range where you would expect a couple of big games from Evans.

It is fair to think that when he is healthy, he can create splash games here and there, but over the course of 17 games, it might not always look pretty.