Emeka Egbuka And Being A No. 1 Receiver
June 7th, 2026
Adjustment complete?
Now this is an interesting angle Joe has never thought of before, when Joe spends hours scanning websites trying to find a clue why Emeka Egbuka was hot as a firecracker on the Fourth of July in the first half of the season and cold as Arctic ice in January in the second half of the season.
Not since high school was Egbuka asked to be the go-to guy in a passing attack.
Jared Dubin of CBS Sports had a column where he listed the biggest questions for players who are entering the second year in the league. For Egbuka, Dubin asked if the Bucs budding star can be a No. 1 receiver.
Egbuka got off to a scorching start, catching 25 passes for 445 yards and five touchdowns in his first five games. Over his final 12 games, he caught “just” 38 balls for 493 yards and one score.
He’ll be counted on as Baker Mayfield’s top target this year with Mike Evans decamping for San Francisco. He wasn’t ever the top target at Ohio State. Can he be one in the pros?
That’s a helluva point. As talented as Egbuka is, he was the No. 2 guy at Ohio State. That just shows how filthy loaded Ohio State’s wide receiver room was when USF coach Brian Hartline was the offensive coordinator in Columbus.
One of the reasons Joe thought prior to Egbuka getting drafted that he would be a nice pickup for the Bucs if they wanted to go receiver last year in the draft — which Joe never dreamed they would — is that Egbuka to Joe was (and is) a Chris Godwin clone.
As good as Godwin is, he’s never been the Bucs’ No. 1 receiver.
So last year when Mike Evans and Godwin were both hurt, Egbuka was asked to be someone he hadn’t been since high school: The top dog at receiver.
And he had to learn this in the NFL. As a rookie.
Joe thinks Egbuka will be able to pull this off. But it’s still a helluva point by Dublin and shows just what a massive adjustment Egbuka had last year as a rookie. On the fly.