It’s Time To Stop Underrating Tampa’s Elite WR Duo
Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
What makes a great duo? For me, you can tell when you say one half of that duo, and automatically think of the other. Some of the greatest duos in history include “Peanut Butter and Jelly,” “Batman and Robin,” and “Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.” And let’s not forget some of my personal favorites, like “Cookies and Cream,” and “Papa and Roach.”
But in the NFL, no position is more synonymous with duos than wide receiver. There are just so many iconic wide receiver tandems: Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. And now, we’re in a Golden Age of WR Duos, like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a great one of their own, and they’ve flown under the radar for far too long. As Doug Clawson points out, Mike Evans (103 yards through Week 2) and Chris Godwin (200 yards) are well on their way to making history with their fifth season with both wideouts having simultaneous 1,000-yard campaigns. Only Bruce and Holt have had as many 1,000-yard seasons as a tandem.
So… why does everyone talk about Hill and Waddle, again?
Evans and Godwin are easily the most underrated receiver duo of the 21st century, and ever, from almost the moment the Bucs took Godwin with a third-round pick in 2017. He joined Evans, who in three seasons already had the fifth-most receiving yards ever through their first three seasons. Of Evans’ 11 years in the NFL, he only has one season where he’s failed to crack the 1,000-yard barrier. That season? 2024. And that’s only because it’s just two games old.
They are the top receivers in team history by a particularly wide margin, and among the best wideouts of all time. Only six players have more receiving yards than Evans through their first 10 seasons, and Godwin ranks 41st among all receivers through seven years. They also came home with significant hardware after the chaotic 2020 season that strengthened Evans’ Hall of Fame candidacy.
THE @BUCCANEERS ARE SUPER BOWL LV CHAMPIONS! #SBLV #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/LmvNzPzlCO
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2021
Through the Jameis Winston, Tom Brady, and Baker Mayfield Eras, Evans and Godwin are like clockwork. “He’s so consistent,” Chris Godwin said of Mike Evans last season. “He’s as underrated as they come and it’s insane to me how he is, but he doesn’t care about any of that. He goes out there and he does his job, he executes at a high level, and you have to account for him. Teams try to double him and it still doesn’t work, so they’re going to try something else.”
To nobody’s surprise, the respect is mutual.
“He looks like he’s in midseason form,” Evans said of Godwin in August. “He was making plays, going deep. [He] looks like the 2019 Chris Godwin.”
Perhaps even more impressive than what they’ve done in the past is the fact that neither of the longtime veterans are showing any signs of slowing down. Evans and Godwin both had 1,000-yard seasons in 2023. They were instrumental in Baker Mayfield’s career resurgence in 2023, in which he topped 4,000 yards passing for the first time in his career. Evans was particularly elite, leading the NFL in touchdowns and becoming a Second-Team All-Pro in his age-30 season.
“For Mike and I, it’s the constant communication,” Mayfield said. “Obviously, he’s going to win on a lot of his routes — that’s just who he is… Chris is an unbelievable team guy — he’s going to get dirty in the run game as well. He understands his role on this team and it’s extremely important.”
So far in 2024, it has been more of the same, as both players are tied for the NFL lead through two games with two touchdowns apiece. Only Nico Collins has more receiving yards than Godwin. The only teams with a receiver duo with more yards are the Detroit Lions (332; Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown), the Houston Texans (322; Collins and Stefon Diggs), and, by one yard, the Miami Dolphins (304; Hill and Waddle).
Ranking Evans and Godwin among all-time great historical wide receiver duos is complicated. They have never been considered the best, fastest, most talented, or flashiest duo in the league. Only one of them (Mike Evans) appears a lock for the Hall of Fame, though he will likely thank Chris Godwin extensively in his speech.
They do, however, have what very few duos have: elite longevity. They simply show up and get the job done, and they have done so at a high level, consistently, and for longer than anyone. Through two games, there’s no reason they won’t continue to be among the NFL’s best.
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