The Rams selected Wingate punter Ethan Evans with the 223rd pick in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft (4/29/23).
College: Evans served as Wingate's starting punter and kickoff specialist from 2019-22. He saw action in 39 career games and registered 186 punts for 8,027 yards (43.2 avg.) with a long of 72-yards. Evans landed 89 punts inside the 20-yard line and tallied 53 punts of 50 or more yards. He increased his gross average each season at Wingate. During his senior season in 2022, Evans punted 77 times for 3,518 yards (45.7 avg.), which is a Wingate school record. He landed 39 punts inside the 20-yard line and tallied 30 punts of 50 or more yards. He also entered the scoring column that season, converting 10-of-18 field goal attempts, with a long of 41-yards, and converted 43 PATs. His senior campaign earned him First-Team Associated Press Division II All-American and All-South Athletic Conference honors. As a junior in 2021, Evans notched 36 punts for 1,535 yards (42.6 avg), landed 22 punts inside the 20-yard-line, and recorded 11 punts for 50 or more yards. In a shortened 2020 season, Evans punted 17 times in four games for 717 yards (42.2 avg.) with five kicks inside the 20-yard-line and three of 50-yards or more. In his first season at Wingate in 2019, he notched 56 punts for 2,257 yards (40.3) with nine of 50 or more yards and 23 landing inside the 20-yard-line. Evans helped Wingate win 10 games that season for the first time in school history. He was the first Division II player to be selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, the second player in Wingate history to be selected in the NFL Draft, and the first since 2007.
Personal: Evans played his high school ball at North Surry High School. He is the son of Brendon and Kara Evans and majored in exercise science.
