Caleb Evans (quarterback)
{{Short description|American gridiron football player (born 1998)}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
|name=Caleb Evans
|current_team= Montreal Alouettes
|number=5
|image=2023, 05, Caleb Evans.jpg
|caption=Evans with the Montreal Alouettes in 2023
|birth_place=Mansfield, Texas, U.S.
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1998|7|16}}
|position=Quarterback
|cflstatus=American
|status=Active
|undraftedyear=2020
|college=Louisiana–Monroe (2016–2019)
|high_school= {{ubl|Mansfield (Mansfield, Texas)|Bishop Dunne (Dallas, Texas)}}
|height_in=2
|height_ft=6
|weight_lb=210
|pastteams=
- Ottawa Redblacks ({{CFL Year|2021|2022}})
- Montreal Alouettes ({{CFL Year|2023}}–present)
| cflstatseason = 2024
| cflstatlabel1 = Passing completions
| cflstatvalue1 = 291
| cflstatlabel2 = Passing attempts
| cflstatvalue2 = 479
| cflstatvalue3 = 16–22
| cflstatlabel4 = Passing yards
| cflstatvalue4 = 3,460
| cflstatlabel5 = Rushing touchdowns
| cflstatvalue5 = 31
| highlights =
- Grey Cup champion (2023)
- CFL rushing touchdowns leader (2022)
|cfl=caleb-evans/165860/
}}
Caleb Evans (born July 16, 1998) is an American professional football quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Louisiana–Monroe.
Early life
Evans played football at Mansfield High School in Mansfield, Texas before transferring to play his final two seasons at Bishop Dunne Catholic School in Dallas, Texas.{{cite web|url=https://ulmwarhawks.com/sports/football/roster/caleb-evans/4192 |title=Caleb Evans |publisher=Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks |access-date=October 1, 2021}}
College career
Evans played college football for the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks at the University of Louisiana at Monroe in Monroe, Louisiana. He played in 43 games for the Warhawks from 2016 to 2019 where he threw for 9,513 yards with 58 touchdowns and 38 interceptions.
Professional career
= Ottawa Redblacks =
Evans was not selected in the 2020 NFL draft and remained unsigned until December 14, 2020 when he agreed to a contract with the Ottawa Redblacks.{{Cite web|date=2020-12-14|title=Redblacks add eight players to their roster|url=https://www.ottawaredblacks.com/2020/12/14/redblacks-add-eight-players-roster/|access-date=2021-10-01|website=Ottawa Redblacks|language=en}} Evans began the season on the practice roster, but was named the starting quarterback for the team's Week 9 match against the Edmonton Elks with veterans Matt Nichols and Dominique Davis both being placed on injured reserve.{{Cite web|agency=The Canadian Press|date=2021-09-28|title=Ottawa Redblacks Quarterback Caleb Evans Edmonton Elks - TSN.ca|url=https://www.tsn.ca/ottawa-redblacks-quarterback-caleb-evans-edmonton-elks-1.1698930|access-date=2021-10-01|website=TSN|language=en}} Evans played surprisingly well in his first appearance in the CFL, completing 15 of 22 passes for 191 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, leading Ottawa to their second win of the season.{{Cite web|title=2021-09-28 Game Tracker - Edmonton Elks vs. Ottawa Redblacks (6165)|url=https://www.cfl.ca/games/6165/|access-date=2021-10-01|website=CFL.ca|language=en}} In his second career start, Evans threw three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns in the third quarter as the Redblacks were defeated 35-16.{{Cite web|title=2021-10-06 Game Tracker - Ottawa Redblacks vs. Toronto Argonauts (6169)|url=https://www.cfl.ca/games/6169/|access-date=2021-10-07|website=CFL.ca|language=en}} Over the subsequent weeks Evans's performances continued to decline, including being benched in the team's Week 11 loss to the Alouettes.{{Cite web|title=2021-10-16 Game Tracker - Montreal Alouettes vs. Ottawa Redblacks (6175)|url=https://www.cfl.ca/games/6175/|access-date=2021-10-18|website=CFL.ca|language=en}} Nevertheless, head coach Paul LaPolice announced Evans would be the team's starting quarterback in Week 12 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.{{Cite web|author=TSN ca Staff|date=2021-10-18|title=Ottawa Redblacks Caleb Evans benching Paul LaPolice - TSN.ca|url=https://www.tsn.ca/ottawa-redblacks-caleb-evans-benching-paul-lapolice-1.1707942|access-date=2021-10-18|website=TSN|language=en}} Evans continued to start for the Redblacks until Week 14 when it was announced that former NFL quarterback Devlin Hodges would make his CFL debut.{{Cite web|title=Quack Attack: Redblacks name Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges starting QB vs. Argos {{!}} 3DownNation|url=https://3downnation.com/2021/11/05/quack-attack-redblacks-name-devlin-duck-hodges-starting-qb-vs-argos/|access-date=2021-11-05|language=en-US}} Evans finished the season with 108 completed passes for 1,279 yards with five touchdown passes and nine interceptions. The Redblacks finished the season with only three wins, finishing last in the East division, missing the playoffs in the process.
During the offseason the Redblacks signed veteran Jeremiah Masoli to be the team's starting quarterback.{{Cite web |date=2022-02-07 |title=MASOLI TO OTTAWA: REDBLACKS ink veteran quarterback |url=https://www.ottawaredblacks.com/2022/02/07/masoli-ottawa-redblacks-ink-veteran-quarterback/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Ottawa REDBLACKS |language=en}} Masoli started the first four games of the season before suffering a bone injury in his leg which would cause him to miss an extended period of time.{{Cite web |title=Masoli sidelined, but it's believed Redblacks QB could return from leg injury this season |url=https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nfl/masoli-sidelined-but-its-believed-redblacks-qb-could-return-from-leg-injury-this-season/ar-AAZqPmf |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=MSN |language=en-CA}} Three days later the Redblacks traded for quarterback Nick Arbuckle from Edmonton to compete with Evans for the starting role while Masoli recovers.{{Cite web |agency=The Canadian Press |date=2022-07-11 |title=Redblacks acquire Arbuckle from Elks - TSN.ca |url=https://www.tsn.ca/nick-arbuckle-edmonton-elks-ottawa-redblacks-1.1824199 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=TSN |language=en}} Evans started the next five games for the Redblacks, however the team's record fell to 1-8, which prompted head coach Paul LaPolice to announce Arbuckle as Ottawa's starting quarterback for the club's Week 12 match against the Edmonton Elks.{{Cite web |author=TSN ca Staff |date=2022-08-23 |title=Redblacks to start Arbuckle at QB vs. Elks - TSN.ca |url=https://www.tsn.ca/ottawa-redblacks-nick-arbuckle-edmonton-elks-1.1839870 |access-date=2022-08-23 |website=TSN |language=en}} Serving as the team's short yardage quarterback Evans surpassed hall-of-famer Doug Flutie setting a CFL record for most rushing touchdowns in a season by a quarterback with 15.{{Cite web |date=2022-10-24 |title=Evans Sets Cfl Record In REDBLACKS Loss To Ti-cats |url=https://www.ottawaredblacks.com/2022/10/24/evans-sets-cfl-record-in-redblacks-loss-to-ti-cats/ |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=Ottawa REDBLACKS |language=en}} With the playoffs out of reach, Evans was named the team's starting quarterback for the final game of the regular season.{{Cite web |author=3Down Staff |date=2022-10-25 |title=Ottawa Redblacks to start Caleb Evans at quarterback in regular season finale |url=https://3downnation.com/2022/10/25/ottawa-redblacks-to-start-caleb-evans-at-quarterback-in-regular-season-finale/ |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=3DownNation |language=en-US}} He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 14, 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/transactions/2023/ |title=Transactions – Football player trades and signings |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=February 24, 2023}}
=Montreal Alouettes=
On February 14, 2023, it was announced that Evans had signed a two-year contract with the Montreal Alouettes.{{cite web|url=https://en.montrealalouettes.com/2023/02/14/alouettes-have-excellent-depth-at-quarterback/ |title=Alouettes have excellent depth at quarterback |publisher=Montreal Alouettes |date=February 14, 2023}} He dressed primarily as the backup quarterback in 2023, but started in place of the incumbent starter, Cody Fajardo, for two games, winning both, while the latter recovered from an injury.{{cite web|url=https://d3ham790trbkqy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2023_CFL_League_Stats_Report_Week_21.pdf |title=2023 CFL statistics |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=November 12, 2023}}
= CFL career statistics =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" | |||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="3"| Games ! colspan="8"| Passing ! colspan="5"| Rushing | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| {{abbr|GP|Games played}} | {{abbr|GS|Games started}} | {{abbr|Record|Record as a starter}} | {{abbr|Cmp|Passes completed}} | {{abbr|Att|Passes attempted}} | {{abbr|Pct|Completion percentage}} | {{abbr|Yds|Passing yards}} | {{abbr|Y/A|Yards per passing attempt}} | {{abbr|TD|Passing touchdowns}} | {{abbr|Int|Interceptions}} | {{abbr|Rtg|Passer rating}} | {{abbr|Att|Rushing attempts}} | {{abbr|Yds|Rushing yards}} | {{abbr|Y/A|Yards per rushing attempt}} | {{abbr|TD|Rushing touchdowns}} | |
| 2021 | OTT
| 8 || 7 || 2–5 || 108 || 182 || 59.3 || 1,279 || 7.0 || 5 || 9 || 69.4 || 42 || 345 || 8.2 || 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 2022 | OTT
| 18 || 6 || 1–5 || 114 || 185 || 61.6 || 1,301 || 7.0 || 4 || 7 || 74.2 || 88 || 354 || 4.0 || 16 | ||||||||||||||
| 2023 | MTL
| 18 || 2 || 2–0 || 43 || 67 || 64.2 || 573 || 8.6 || 4 || 3 || 81.3 || 48 || 185 || 3.9 || 8 | ||||||||||||||
| colspan="2"| Career | 44 | 15 | 5–10 | 265 | 434 | 61.1 | 3,153 | 7.3 | 13 | 19 | 75.0 | 178 | 884 | 5.0 | 27 |
Personal life
Evans was born in Mansfield, Texas to parents Efrem and Kim Evans.{{cite web|url=https://www.si.com/college/virginiatech/football/the-unfinished-story-of-jerod-evans |title=The Unfinished Story of Jerod Evans |publisher=Sports Illustrated |date=June 4, 2020}} He has eight siblings, including Jerod Evans, who played quarterback for the Virginia Tech Hokies, and Lance Evans, who played wide receiver for the Texas A&M–Commerce Lions.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://en.montrealalouettes.com/players/caleb-evans/165860/ Montreal Alouettes bio]
- {{commonscatinline}}
{{Montreal Alouettes roster navbox}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Caleb Evans—championships and honors
| list =
{{110th Grey Cup}}
{{Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks quarterback navbox}}
{{Ottawa Redblacks starting quarterback navbox}}
{{Montreal Alouettes starting quarterback navbox}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Caleb}}
Category:American football quarterbacks
Category:Canadian football quarterbacks
Category:Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football players
Category:Montreal Alouettes players
Category:Ottawa Redblacks players
Category:Sportspeople from Mansfield, Texas
Category:Players of American football from Ellis County, Texas