Bucs' Mike Evans Runaway Favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year

In college football, Sunday's performance by Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans would have been described as his "Heisman moment."

A "Heisman moment" is a game or play that determines a player is better than everyone else in the country. 

Obviously, the Heisman Trophy is a collegiate award—one Evans helped former teammate Johnny Manziel win. But the concept remains the same in the NFL. In this case, Evans experienced his "Rookie of the Year moment" against the Washington Redskins. 

The first-year wide receiver was unstoppable as the Buccaneers played their most complete game of the season. 

Evans annihilated the Redskins' coverage on his way to a new career high in receiving yardage for the third straight week. The Texas A&M product was targeted nine times and caught seven passes for a whopping 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns. 

The stellar performance invoked legendary status among rookie wide receivers, per the Tampa Bay Times' Greg Auman: 

Moss' rookie season is often considered one of the finest in NFL history. The future Hall of Fame wide receiver dominated from the onset of his career and baffled NFL defenses trying to cover him. 

If Evans continues his recent upward trend, he has the opportunity to post a similar rookie campaign. 

Moss caught 69 passes for 1,313 yards and 17 touchdowns as a rookie. Tampa Bay's budding star is currently on pace to catch 73 passes for 1,270 yards and 11 touchdowns. 

Anytime a rookie receiver is mentioned in the same breath as Moss, he quickly leaps to the forefront of the Offensive Rookie of the Year conversation by default. 

The two do have similarities in their game. At 6'4", Moss could jump over, run by or simply outmuscle defenders to make a spectacular catch look routine. Defenses were absolutely frightened of his ability to take the top off their coverage at a moment's notice. While Evans doesn't have the same speed as Moss, his size at 6'5" and 231 pounds makes him a constant mismatch. And the rookie has enough giddy-up to be a similar threat on the outside for the Buccaneers. 

Evans has emulated Moss is more ways than one. Upon scoring Sunday, Evans honored one of his heroes with his touchdown celebration, according to the Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud. 

"

I did the Randy Moss. I did that in college. I did that a couple times here. The swagger (Moss) plays with, he has fun with the game and I try to do that and model that. Talk a little smack whenever I score. Have fun.

"

Moss isn't the only future Hall of Fame wide receiver that has been mentioned due to Evans' sensational play. Anquan Boldin gained 1,377 yards as a rookie, which is good enough for second all-time among first-year wide receivers. Evans has proved to be as explosive as Boldin this season, as FoxSports.com's Peter Schrager noted: 

The Buccaneers' Josh McCown was a backup quarterback when Boldin dominated in 2003. 

"I was there that day Anquan did that," McCown told the Tampa Bay Times. "I'm sitting there thinking, 'Geez, this guy, we've got something special.' Obviously, Mike being the seventh pick, you expect it more I guess. But certainly to take over and do the things he did today, it's special."

If Evans can continue to put up big numbers comparable to those from the last three weeks, he might even have an outside shot to eclipse former Houston Oiler Bill Groman, who set the NFL rookie record with 1,473 receiving yards in 1960. 

Evans isn't simply the top rookie wide receiver at the moment. He's also developing into one of the NFL's top targets. The Buccaneers' No. 1 option is now 10th overall in receiving yardage. The massive receiver is also eighth with an average of 17.3 yards per catch. 

The Buccaneers' record book has even been rewritten by Evans in recent weeks. 

Auman noted that Evans' current level of play has never been previously seen from a Buccaneers wide receiver: 

The rookie wide receiver has shown a level of consistency in recent weeks that makes it easy to believe he'll continue to dominate during the Buccaneers' final six games. 

The team tweeted out yet another record Evans now holds: 

Despite all of this, Evans wasn't the clear-cut top choice for Rookie of the Year through the first half of the season. The former seventh overall selection had to catch up to another jumbo target in the NFC South. 

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin remains Evans' primary competition for the award, but the two targets are currently on opposite trajectories. 

Player	Team	Receptions	Yards	Touchdowns
Mike Evans	Bucs	21	458	5
Kelvin Benjamin	Panthers	14	197	3

Benjamin started out the year fast and quickly captured the imaginations of fans and media with his spectacular catches. His numbers are still close to Evans'. Still, the two wide receivers are playing at a completely different level at the moment.

The fellow first-round pick hasn't displayed the same level of consistency over a certain stretch of games.  Benjamin has only two 100-yard games this season, and those efforts came eight weeks apart. Carolina's top target also leads all rookies with seven dropped passes, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Evans has dropped only two passes this season. 

Evans' overall consistency and continually improved play has left Benjamin far behind as the top candidate for the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. And the Buccaneers' talented receiver just may break a few rookie records along the way. 

Evans already helped others claim hardware during their collegiate career. He's now on track to earn a trophy of his own. 

 Brent Sobleski covers the NFC South for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.