Who Should I Start? Mike Evans or Travis Etienne

Monday, March 4, 2:02 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans agreed to a two-year, $52 million deal on Monday that includes $35 million guaranteed, according to his agent Deryk Gilmore. Evans now has a real chance to start and finish his career in Tampa. Evans hasn't really slowed down at all entering his age-31 season this fall, as he has yet to finish any one of his 10 seasons in the NFL with the Bucs under 1,000 yards receiving. He made his fifth Pro Bowl in 2023 and finished with 79 receptions (136 targets) for 1255 yards and a league-leading 13 touchdowns in 17 regular-season games to help quarterback Baker Mayfield to the best season of his career. While Evans is likely to regress in the TD department in 2024, there's no reason to believe he'll finish under 1,000 receiving yards as long as he stays healthy, especially if Tampa also re-signs Mayfield.

Wednesday, February 28, 2:04 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr.'s 325 touches last year were third-most in the NFL for a RB, but head coach Doug Pederson said that Etienne as a workhorse back "is not the recipe" he prefers. Pederson mentioned that D'Ernest Johnson was injured in 2023, and Tank Bigsby was learning as a rookie. The head coach said he'd consider knocking some of Etienne's reps down next season in order to keep him healthy over the course of the year. All in all, the 25-year-old topped 1,000 rushing yards for the second time in his two NFL seasons, and he also improved as a pass-catcher with 58 catches for 476 yards. Etienne will remain the Jaguars' lead back and will be an RB1 target for fantasy managers, but you'll need to keep in mind that if the team has it their way, Etienne's total touches will be managed more.