Mitchell Evans carted off in practice Tuesday

Evans was relegated to the background on the rare occasions when Ja’Tavion Sanders was healthy, finishing his rookie season with a 19/171/2 receiving line. He enters 2026 third on the Carolina tight end depth chart, but showed some flashes and wouldn’t be a bad TE2 flier if he had a non-trivial role in this offense.

Sanders was targeted just twice, but one of those targets was a six-yard touchdown catch. The other one was an attempted hurdle for a three-yard gain in the first half. Rookie Mitchell Evans caught three passes for 23 yards as well. The tight end spot in Carolina is a mix of multiple players. Sanders ran 20 routes and saw 31 snaps, while Tommy Tremble saw 23 snaps and Evans saw 16 snaps. Sanders is the pass-catching tight end while Evans is more of the blocker, but neither should be on fantasy radars for Week 17.

That’s back-to-back games with a touchdown for the rookie tight end. Ja’Tavion Sanders was out with an ankle injury, so Evans split reps with Tommy Tremble this week. Neither player caught more than one pass. Evans’ game-winning score should earn him more work going forward, but fantasy managers shouldn’t count on a fantasy-relevant role in Week 6.

The Panthers officially bring their X-wide receiver into the fold via a $27.93 million deal. McMillan should immediately compete for the team lead in targets and should produce fantasy-friendly results in year one. The Panthers also signed third-round OLB Princely Umanmielen, fourth-round S Lathan Ransom, fifth-round DT Cam Jackson, fifth-round TE Mitchell Evans and sixth-round WR Jimmy Horn Jr.. Dynasty managers should take note of Horn, who could eventually work his way into three-wide receiver sets.

Evans (6’5/258) spent four seasons at Notre Dame, totalling over 400 receiving yards in each of his last two. Injuries hampered his production as he suffered a broken foot as a sophomore and a partially torn ACL as a junior. Testing with a 1.55 10-yard split, No. 1 among tight ends at the NFL Combine, Evans is a good athlete who can work the middle of the field. His quickness to get open in the short area makes him a strong pass-catcher. As a blocker, he has the size and strength to be impactful in-line. Evans does not add much after the catch but is versatile enough to work out of both the slot and in-line positions. If he can stay healthy, Evans has the tools to be a secondary tight end option in the NFL.

Evans (6'5"/250) had surgery on his foot back on July 14th after injuring it during offseason training. The sophomore finished last season with two receptions for 21 yards and will play behind Michael Mayer when he returns.