Did Bucs Have Inside Intel On Emeka Egbuka?
May 21st, 2025
Intel pipeline from Ohio State?
There are still some folks who have decent-sized audiences in the NFL social media/podcast/blogosphere that are surprised the Bucs drafted Emeka Egbuka at No. 19.
The same folks thought defense was a much higher need for the Bucs and one could argue wide receiver was the deepest position room on the team.
Joe remembers seeing a video of Greg Cosell from “The Ross Tucker Podcast” where he thought that the Bucs had Egbuka rated so high that when he was still there at No. 19, the Bucs figured, “Hey, Egbuka is too good of value to pass on.”
In other words, the Bucs stayed true to their board. Joe ran Cosell’s words up the flagpole at One Buc Palace. The feedback Joe got was, “That’s very fair.” He didn’t say Cosell was right or wrong, just that Cosell’s words were “very fair.”
Joe brings this all up because yesterday, when Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard was talking about Egbuka, he mentioned, “I have a couple of good buddies on [Ohio State’s] staff.”
Mind you, Grizzard didn’t say he had a friend on Ryan Day’s staff, he had two (maybe one was Mr. Just For Men himself, Day?).
So Joe wonders if the Bucs, i.e. Grizzard, were fed some really good intel that other teams may not have had access to. And that may be a reason why the Bucs could have had Egbuka in their top-10 in the draft.
“I think the delineation between slot and outside has decreased.”@GregCosell on the Buccaneers drafting Emeka Ebuka: pic.twitter.com/pekN4vwoSp
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) May 15, 2025