Malik Nabers vs Mike Evans: Who Should You Start?
Malik Nabers and Mike Evans are both viable fantasy wide receivers heading into 2026, but their 2025 production tells two different stories. Malik Nabers averaged 12.0 PPG across 4 games with the New York Giants, while Mike Evans posted 8.7 PPG in 8 appearances for the San Francisco 49ers.
A 3.3-PPG gap gives Malik Nabers the edge on paper, but paper does not account for Thursday night matchups, weather games, or a star defender returning from injury. The real question is not who was better in 2025, but who is the better start this specific week.
Target volume is the story here. Mike Evans saw 61 targets in 2025, while Malik Nabers drew 35. That workload gap usually translates into a higher weekly floor for Mike Evans, even in weeks where Malik Nabers posts the bigger ceiling game. Consistency-minded managers lean toward target share; boom-bust managers chase the upside.
Malik Nabers has his bye in Week 11, and Mike Evans rests in Week 9. Managers rostering both need waiver wire depth at wide receiver for those two weeks, and that is exactly the kind of planning DraftCall's matchup engine surfaces automatically so you are not scrambling on a Sunday morning.
