Too Early For “Offensive Rookie Of The Year” Chatter?
September 11th, 2025
Trusting the rookie.
Bucs rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka had a very nice first game. Not only did catch two touchdown passes, but he also battled the lights and called his own shot to catch the game-winning pass.
But pimping Egbuka for “Offensive Rookie of the Year” after just one game? That’s a bit premature, isn’t it?
One veteran NFL reporter doesn’t think so. Long-time Bears beat guy and currently on the NFL beat with The Athletic, Dan Pompei, believes Egbuka is a legitimate candidate.
The Bucs’ Emeka Egbuka was picked 19th, but he could be the offensive rookie of the year. It’s unusual for a rookie wide receiver to look like a veteran, but that’s what Egbuka did in his two-touchdown performance against the Atlanta Falcons on the road. The fact Baker Mayfield had no hesitation to go to him with the game on the line and 59 seconds left spoke volumes. In a game with Mike Evans, Drake London and Kyle Pitts, Egbuka was the most productive receiver on the field.
Joe thinks Pompei made one helluva point. It’s crunch time. The clock showed 1:18 left. The Bucs needed a touchdown to control the game.
And of all players Baker Mayfield trusted, with Mike Evans on the field, Mayfield decides to target a rookie in his first game.
For a quarterback to trust a rookie at that point, he has to have street cred with Mayfield given the other options on the field.
Not one person would have blinked an eye if Mayfield instead targeted Evans. The way Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates broke on that play when Evans came out of his break, he sure thought Mayfield was targeting Evans.
That says a lot about a rookie that his veteran quarterback would trust him (in tight coverage) in such a clutch moment.