American football player
 Evans with the Montreal Alouettes in 2023 | |||||||||||||
| No. 5 – Montreal Alouettes | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | (1998-07-16) July 16, 1998 (age 26) Mansfield, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: |
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| College: | Louisiana–Monroe (2016–2019) | ||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2020 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| CFL status: | American | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career CFL statistics as of 2024 | |||||||||||||
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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.
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. 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. 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. 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. Over the subsequent weeks Evans's performances continued to decline, including being benched in the team's Week 11 loss to the Alouettes. Nevertheless, head coach Paul LaPolice announced Evans would be the team's starting quarterback in Week 12 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. 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. 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. 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. Three days later the Redblacks traded for quarterback Nick Arbuckle from Edmonton to compete with Evans for the starting role while Masoli recovers. 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. 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. With the playoffs out of reach, Evans was named the team's starting quarterback for the final game of the regular season. He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 14, 2023.
Montreal Alouettes
On February 14, 2023, it was announced that Evans had signed a two-year contract with the Montreal Alouettes. 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.
CFL career statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Y/A | TD | |||
| 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 | |
| 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. 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
- ^ "Caleb Evans". Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
- "Redblacks add eight players to their roster". Ottawa Redblacks. December 14, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
- "Ottawa Redblacks Quarterback Caleb Evans Edmonton Elks - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. September 28, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
- "2021-09-28 Game Tracker - Edmonton Elks vs. Ottawa Redblacks (6165)". CFL.ca. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
- "2021-10-06 Game Tracker - Ottawa Redblacks vs. Toronto Argonauts (6169)". CFL.ca. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
- "2021-10-16 Game Tracker - Montreal Alouettes vs. Ottawa Redblacks (6175)". CFL.ca. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- TSN ca Staff (October 18, 2021). "Ottawa Redblacks Caleb Evans benching Paul LaPolice - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- "Quack Attack: Redblacks name Devlin 'Duck' Hodges starting QB vs. Argos | 3DownNation". Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- "MASOLI TO OTTAWA: REDBLACKS ink veteran quarterback". Ottawa REDBLACKS. February 7, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
- "Masoli sidelined, but it's believed Redblacks QB could return from leg injury this season". MSN. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
- "Redblacks acquire Arbuckle from Elks - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. July 11, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
- TSN ca Staff (August 23, 2022). "Redblacks to start Arbuckle at QB vs. Elks - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
- "Evans Sets Cfl Record In REDBLACKS Loss To Ti-cats". Ottawa REDBLACKS. October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
- 3Down Staff (October 25, 2022). "Ottawa Redblacks to start Caleb Evans at quarterback in regular season finale". 3DownNation. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - "Transactions – Football player trades and signings". Canadian Football League. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- "Alouettes have excellent depth at quarterback". Montreal Alouettes. February 14, 2023.
- "2023 CFL statistics" (PDF). Canadian Football League. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
- ^ "The Unfinished Story of Jerod Evans". Sports Illustrated. June 4, 2020.
External links
- Montreal Alouettes bio
Media related to Caleb Evans at Wikimedia Commons
- Living people
- 1998 births
- American football quarterbacks
- Canadian football quarterbacks
- Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football players
- Montreal Alouettes players
- Ottawa Redblacks players
- Sportspeople from Mansfield, Texas
- Players of American football from Ellis County, Texas
- Players of Canadian football from Texas
- Bishop Dunne Catholic School alumni