Mike Evans Fantasy Value With 49ers: What It Means for Your Roster

One of the NFL’s long-time tenured wide receivers is changing teams, with Mike Evans planning to join the San Francisco 49ers.

Let's examine the fantasy football implications of this move for Evans' fantasy value as well as how this signing affects Ricky Pearsall and Emeka Egbuka.

For full contract details and more of a “real football” look at the biggest moves, see our NFL Free Agency Signing Tracker.

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Mike Evans Fantasy Value With the San Francisco 49ers

Mike Evans Career Stats

One of the league’s most consistent producers is coming off his worst season in the pros, catching 30 of 62 targets (a career-low 48.4% catch rate) for 368 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Evans only appeared in eight games last season.

He suffered a hamstring injury in Week 3 that sidelined him until Week 7.

It was the fifth season in a row that Evans has been on the injury report with a hamstring issue.

When Evans returned in Week 7 against Detroit, he suffered a broken clavicle after 14 plays, forcing him out of the lineup for the next two months.

Returning in Week 15, Evans reminded everyone that he still can produce, catching 6 of 12 targets for 132 yards against Atlanta.

He only produced 31, 31, and 34 yards the final three weeks of the season, but he did find the end zone twice over that span.

The largest question here is whether San Francisco is attempting to catch a falling knife.

Mike Evans Advanced Stats

Evans will be 33 and had an efficiency dip across the board.

His yards per route run were the fewest of his career.

Evans was the worst he has been after the catch.

He also had the lowest rate of targets that produced a first down or touchdown in his career.

Baker Mayfield’s efficiency fell off as he dealt with injuries, so that is somewhat of a hall pass for Evans.

Despite playing through multiple ailments, Evans still commanded target opportunities.

His target rate per route was his highest since 2016 and good for WR8 on the season among wideouts with 200-plus routes run.

Joining a San Francisco offense that has a wide-open target tree, I would bet on Evans being a target earner once again.

George Kittle is returning from an Achilles injury he suffered in the postseason, raising questions about his availability to open the year.

Ricky Pearsall has played in 20 games through two seasons.

Jauan Jennings (90 targets) and Kendrick Bourne (53 targets) are on the open market.

Even if Evans has lost a step, he is going to be asked to win in the way he is still capable while playing the X position, running slants, digs, and outs.

That position has produced some high-value targets for Brandon Aiyuk and even Pearsall when he was available last year.

This is a passing game that coaxes efficiency out of anyone, let alone a future Hall of Famer.

We still have to price in his age and injury history (the electrical substation digs write themselves), but I believe Evans has a solid floor here as a target earner and touchdown producer when on the field.

Like Davante Adams with the Rams a year ago, I expect Evans to at minimum be a major factor near the end zone.

When Evans was on the field last season, he commanded 58.3% of the Tampa Bay end zone targets.

Adams had 57.1%  of the end zone targets in his games played last season with the Rams.

In 2024, Evans was second in the league in end zone targets (18).

That is an area where Brock Purdy has thrived.

Since entering the league, Purdy has completed 45.1% of his throws into the end zone.

That is fourth in the league.

In 2025, that rate was 46.2% (QB9) while Mac Jones was first (58.3%).

Evans has been the WR34 in early drafts, something I anticipate climbing to the WR20 to WR25 range.

Even when pricing in his age and injury history, Evans is a best-ball target for touchdown equity.

I can easily see him clearing that cost in managed leagues, as well, but we have time for the dust to settle on his closing ADP.

At first blush, that wide receiver range is not a spot where I have been aggressively drafting the position overall.

Ricky Pearsall 2026 Fantasy Value

The addition of Evans has a domino effect on Pearsall's potential role.

Pearsall was in the X role a year ago when he was available.

The rub was that, once again, he was often unavailable.

Pearsall only appeared in nine games due to a PCL injury that cost him most of the year, and then a late-season ankle injury.

Pearsall was on the field for only 45% of dropbacks last season.

He opened the season strong, producing 108, 56, and 117 yards over his first three full games before injury in Week 4.

Pearsall then closed the year with games of 6 catches for 96 yards in Week 14 and then 5 catches for 85 yards in Week 16.

Pearsall averaged a team-high 14.1 air yards per target with a team-high 32.1% of his targets on throws 20 or more yards downfield.

Paired with a role near the end zone, I expect Evans to take on a lot of those routes while Pearsall moves into more of the role he had during his rookie season.

That would mean taking on more assignments that had been given to Jauan Jennings, which was the plan in 2024.

Pearsall played 34.4% of his snaps in the slot as a rookie compared to 19% last season.

Only 15.2% of his targets as a rookie were deep targets, while he averaged 3.7 yards after the catch compared to 2.6 yards after the catch last season.

With Jennings likely gone after signing Evans and Kittle’s return to be determined, Pearsall has a solid setup again to kick off 2026.

He has to stay on the field himself, but the addition of Evans (who has his own injury history and age) is arguably better for him short-term than the 49ers using more premier draft capital on a wide receiver.

I do expect San Francisco to add a wide receiver in the draft, but that will likely come outside of the first round.

As long as that price tag hangs in the WR3/WR4 range (he is the current WR37), Pearsall is intriguing at that cost.

If it gets much higher, then there will be a pause.

Outside of staying on the field, Pearsall has been a limited target earner.

After being targeted on 15.2% of his routes as a rookie, Pearsall was targeted on 18.9% last season.

While we can price in another bump for 2026, Pearsall has had trouble receiving targets given the surrounding talent available.

A 100% Kittle (if/when), Evans, and Christian McCaffrey will still be a large part of the passing game.

Pearsall could still be fourth on the pecking order when this offense is operating at full speed.

Emeka Egbuka 2026 Fantasy Value

As noted, when Evans did play last season, he was still a high-target earner.

That was particularly impactful for Emeka Egbuka.

With Evans on the field last season (152 routes), Egbuka was targeted on 18.4% of his routes (1.34 yards per route run).

With Evans off the field (378 routes), Egbuka was targeted on 26.2% of his routes (1.94 yards per route).

Egbuka ended the season on a down note compared to his blistering start, but this is a first-round pick who had top-down success as a rookie and is still in line for significant target opportunities.

Out of the three wide receivers we have covered in depth so far, Egbuka’s current WR22 price tag is the most appealing.

Not only was Egbuka affected by Evans's availability, but he also had a hamstring injury of his own, while his quarterback had a rough finish to the season due to injuries.

Over the first six weeks of the season, Egbuka only had an 11.9% off-target rate.

He then had a 26.8% inaccurate target rate for the remainder of the year as Mayfield played through knee and shoulder injuries.