One Bold Prediction Mike Evans Can Clear with the 49ers

This should be light work.

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The San Francisco 49ers signed for specific reasons, and Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated believes that the signing is going to work out for the most part. His bold prediction of Mike Evans catching 10 touchdowns means that Evans is going to get right back on track in a 49ers uniform. 

The San Francisco 49ers added a red zone weapon in Mike Evans 

Mike Evans catching ten touchdowns is not typically a bold prediction. Kyle Shanahan feeding one main passing weapon in the red zone for a big year is not a bold prediction. However, their coming together in 2026 would be a small surprise. 

Evans has played 12 seasons and has had more than ten touchdowns in six of them. He also went over ten touchdowns in two of the last three seasons. However, he only caught three touchdowns in what turned out to be the worst season of his career in 2025. 

Evans was hurt for most of the year and only played in eight games. Still, that pace would put him closer to seven touchdowns if he played a full season, and not the ten touchdowns that he had typically been getting.

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Still, the 49ers offense is different, and there is a real chance this is where Evans thrives. Evans is getting older, and being able to produce high volume at his age is unlikely. 

However, his age and savvy could come in handy in key redzone moments. San Francisco has an offense that is great at getting to the red zone, but it is nice to have a player with the size of Evans's size when they get in there. 

So, the team could let Evans stay fresh early into drives, but use him similarly to a goal-line back and let him collect touchdowns. That is an easy way to see this bold prediction coming to fruition.

The biggest thing that will stop him is health. Evens was not fully healthy in 2024, despite going over 10 touchdowns. His past two years featured the most nagging injuries of his entire career, and he is now at the age where it is hard to expect the issues to stop all of a sudden. 

If Evans misses too much time, he is going to make this prediction look silly. Still, it is much more of a bet on health than a bet that Evans still has it due to the scheme.