Mike Evans injury: Buccaneers star's 1,000-yard streak is over, but can anyone else break the record?

Mike Evans' broken collarbone suffered in Monday night's loss to the Lions is not only a brutal blow for both Evans and the Buccaneers, but it spells the end of one of the most impressive streaks in sports.

With coach Todd Bowles saying Evans' injury will force him to be "out mostly toward the end of the year," the star wide receiver's streak of 11 consecutive seasons with 1,000 yards receiving will come to an end.

The streak was the longest to begin a career in NFL history and tied with Jerry Rice for the longest overall.

Evans was in his first game back from a hamstring injury, and his injury was a scary scene: After stretching out for a deep pass from Baker Mayfield and hitting the turf hard, Evans remained down and motionless for an extended period of time, and fellow wide receiver Emeka Egbuka said Evans appeared to lose consciousness, according to several reports.

The Buccaneers were already without wide receiver Chris Godwin and running back Bucky Irving, among others, and are yet to play a down this season with Evans, Egbuka and Godwin on the field together. NFL Media's Ian Rapoport said Evans' injury will likely sideline him six to eight weeks.

Even if Evans returned at the earliest end of his timeline, he would need 860 yards receiving over five weeks. The most receiving yards over a five-game stretch is 861 by Calvin Johnson in 2013. Evans' most in a five-game span is 625, set back in 2019.

That leads us to wonder who could be the next to match or even surpass Evans' and Rice's streaks.

Most likely candidates to match/break 1,000-yard receiving season streak record

It is really, really hard to have 1,000 yards receiving in 11 consecutive seasons. That's why only two players -- one a Hall of Famer and the best wide receiver ever (statistically), one a future Hall of Famer -- have done it.

Even Evans had some close calls, including last year. He missed time with an injury and needed a 9-yard catch on the final play of the season to get to 1,000 (he finished with 1,004). It was one of the coolest moments of the season given Evans' franchise icon status and how he and his teammates celebrated.

Evans also had a 1,001-yard season in 2017, but as long as you reach four digits, it counts.

Here's the active leaderboard for most consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons:

We can eliminate some pretty quickly: Adams, 32, and McLaurin, 30, aren't going to have six more 1,000-yard seasons in a row. Brown, 28, isn't going to have eight more in a row. Again, it's really hard to match what Evans and Rice have done

But there is a strong young crop that has a chance. Jefferson is just 26, and he's well on his way to his sixth straight 1,000-yard season, even with the Vikings' inconsistent quarterback play. His 95.9 career receiving yards per game is the best all time, and he has not only had at least 1,000 yards in all five of his seasons, but he's had at least 1,400 in four of the five. He's far and away the top contender.

Chase, 25, is well on his way to another 1,000-yard season and, like Jefferson, has done it every season he's been in the NFL, usually by a wide margin. Health, of course, is never a given, but the only time he has missed significant time was 2022, when he had 1,046 yards in only 12 games.

Lamb, 26, has already missed two games (and essentially all of a third) this season. When he's been on the field, he's been well on pace to surpass 1,000 yards again, though, and there's little reason to believe a healthy Lamb won't pass the century mark.

Perhaps an underrated option here is St. Brown, who is 25 and has not only a tremendous bill of health but a game that should age very well.

We're officially worried about Wilson's streak given the Jets' historically awful passing attack.

Not on the list above is Puka Nacua, who had 990 yards receiving last year after playing in just 11 games. Yes, he's just 24 years old, but he'd now have to have 1,000 yards every season until he's 34. 

We'll rank the likelihood of reaching 1,000 yards in 11 straight seasons or more as such:

1. Jefferson
2. Chase
3. Lamb
4. St. Brown
5. Nacua
6. Wilson

There are other talented options, too:

• Malik Nabers, 22, is outstanding, but he tore his ACL in Week 4, meaning he'll be looking to starting his streak over again next season.
• Jaxon Smith-Njigba, 23, looks like a breakout superstar, and he currently leads the NFL with 819 yards this season.
• Drake London, 24, went over 1,000 for the first time last season and is on track to do so again this year.
• Ladd McConkey, 23, is getting on track after a slow start to the season and has a stud quarterback in Justin Herbert.
• Egbuka, 23, has had a tremendous start to his career, but he has played in seven games. It's far too early.

Perhaps more than anything, Evans' injury shows how immense his streak truly is. It will take a rare combination of health, luck, good quarterback play and maintained productivity for anyone -- even the game's best -- to do something similar.