The Bucs have placed prominent rookie receivers in huge Week 1 roles. How has it gone?
It’s hard to say.
Mike Evans was a 2014 rookie playing opposite stud veteran receiver Vincent Jackson, much like current Emeka Egbuka will be Sunday in Atlanta.
Evans’ opening day saw him get 9 targets and 5 catches for 37 yards. But how can anyone consider that fairly knowing the Bucs didn’t have an offensive coordinator through the 2014 season? Ill-suited Marcus Arroyo was calling plays after being rushed into the job after offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford bailed on the team with a heart problem.
However, Joe has to give Arroyo some credit. His Bucs offense averaged only one point less per game than the Tom Brady-Byron Leftwich led crew in 2022. (Ponder that for a minute.)
In 2010, the late [mattress-in-the-yard](https://www.joebucsfan.com/2014/02/williams-off-field-antics-exposed/) Mike Williams was named the Bucs’ No. 1 receiver before training camp. He was impressive. The fourth-round pick looked like the second-best receiver in that draft during NFL Scouting Combine drills and it carried over quickly to the playing field.
Williams caught 65 balls for 964 yards and 11 touchdowns as a rookie. It was stunning, especially considering he was the Bucs’ top-dog receiver dealing with double-teams. But Williams was rather quiet in his debut. Like Evans, he got 9 targets and caught 5 balls, good for only 30 yards. But he did score a touchdown.
Chris Godwin’s rookie debut? He wasn’t starting and had 2 targets and 0 catches.
Jalen McMillan opened his career with a bang last season with a 32-yard touchdown pass, but it was his only catch of the day on 3 targets.
Retired receiver Michael Clayton may be the best opening-day comparison for Egbuka. In 2004, the Bucs drafted Clayton at No. 15 overall.
Like Ebuka, Clayton debuted with a veteran quarterback (Brad Johnson) and talented veteran receivers around him: Joey Galloway and Tim Brown. Clayton was busy in his debut with 7 catches for 53 yards on 11 targets. The Bucs lost 16-10 at Washington.
For those wondering, the NFL debuts of top Bucs receiver draft picks Jaquez Green (1998) Reidel Anthony (1997) and Arrelious Benn (2010) combined for less than 35 yards receiving.
Joe is crazy high on Egbuka. What a talent, and he’s exceptionally smooth and strong. But Joe hopes Bucs fans give Egbuka a couple of games to get used to the NFL.