“You, running the ball? Why?”
You don’t hear this too often from a receiver.
Most (diva) receivers not only holler for his offensive coordinator to put the ball in the air more, he also screams for the ball to end up in his hands, too.
Bucs receiver Emeka Egbuka (surprisingly) seems to ever so slightly embrace part of this.
Appearing on “Up and Adams” this week, starring the NFL’s it-girl, Kay Adams, Egbuka said he wants Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson to call more running plays. Yes, you read that right: A wide receiver wants more running plays.
So long as Egbuka is the guy carrying the mail.
“I definitely want the ball any way I can get it,” Embuka smiled. “I take pride in being that Swiss army knife.”
Wow, that’s the very first time the soft-spoken Egbuka has ever displayed even the faintest hint of divaism. But Egbuka said his confidence in running the ball comes from personal experience. Until he got to high school, Egbuka said he was always a running back.
“That’s something that I’ve always felt very comfortable doing,” Egbuka said. “I played running back my entire career, up until, like, my freshman year in high school.
“So all of middle school, all of elementary school, I only played running back. So I definitely feel comfortable with the ball in my hands.”
At Ohio State, Egbuka averaged six yards a carry. He ran the ball 24 times from his sophomore through his senior seasons for 145 yards. Honestly, Joe doesn’t know how many of those attempts came on end arounds or how many (if any) times Egbuka lined up in the backfield.
Joe doesn’t know how many chances Egbuka will have running the ball with the Bucs this season. Robinson has mouths to feed in the Bucs backfield as it is.
But for a change-of-pace in a tight moment in the game, if it appears a defense is vulnerable on a Benn’d-around, why not?
Joe remembers Chris Godwin converting one of the most important first downs in Bucs history on a Benn’ed-around. So why not use Egbuka that way, while he’s young and still has fresh, healthy wheels?
Emeka Egbuka, the running back?!
The Buccaneers WR says he's interested in running the ball more under new OC Zac Robinson 👀@Buccaneers | @heykayadams pic.twitter.com/TT9BaEOMc1
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) May 6, 2026