Now obviously Evans career isn’t over, but more and more we’re seeing the argument, is he a hall of famer?
It seems like the general public is now more on the side of yes, but here are some points that i think make his case overwhelming as long as he plays at least another 2 seasons.
Currently Evans is 15th all time in receiving touchdowns with 90. Not a single eligible player ahead of him on the list didn’t make the Hall.
Of the hall of famers ahead of Evans on the TD list, not a single one retired before their age 35 season. If you were to assume Evans doesn’t play another game this season, and plays at the pace of his worst statistical year (2017: 1001 yards, 5 touchdowns), evans would be at 16,000 receiving yards (third all time) and 115 touchdowns (8th all time) through his age 35 season. This is using his WORST season as pace and eliminating the rest of this season. I think the big milestone for evans would be at 15,000 yards, which he would only need 745 yards a season through his age 35 year to achieve. I think he also likely beats the 115 mark and at least passes Gates for 7th all time.
These were conservative projections based off worst season that i feel only injury( which as he ages is obv more of a risk) could prevent. 15,000 yards and 115TD obviously gets him in the hall.
However, the most common argument against evans is that he was never really a top 5 receiver in any given season and his stats are mostly volume. For one, this is stupid because Evans has over 40 games fewer played than anyone around him on the TDs leaderboard besides Adams and Gronk. But here’s the bigger argument against these “peak claims”
There isn’t a single 5 year span in Evans career where he wasn’t top 5 in receding touchdowns and not a single 6 season span where he wasn’t top 5 in receiving yards.
The only 3 years spans he wasn’t top 5 in touchdowns were 2015-2017 (11th) and 2017-2019 (also 11th). However in both of those three year stretches he was top 5 in receiving yards. From 2014-2016, 2016-2018, 2018-2020, 2019-2021, and 2020-2023, Evans was top 5 in touchdowns scored as a receiver. So regardless of how long you define a peak, evans was always a top 5 receiver in terms of TD.
To summarize, there isn’t a single 3 year stretch where evans isn’t either top 5 in touchdowns or yards, and besides 2017-2021 where he finished 7th in yards (just 200 yards behind fifth) there isn’t a single 5 year stretch where he isn’t top 5 in both touchdowns and receiving yards.
This man is CLEARLY a hall of famer.
Yeah as i said in the post, sure evans might not have multiple seasons as a top 5 receiver arguably, but in every 3 season span of his career, he’s been top 5 in either touchdowns or yards, and every 5 season span of his career he’s been top 5 in both. People come and go for their one season as teams adjust, but no one has adjusted to Evans