Tampa Bay Knows How to Pick a Rookie: Emeka Egbuka

The first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers leans onto his left leg, his right knee slightly bent behind him, with the endzone lying five mere yards in front of him. It’s third down with three yards remaining. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater takes the snap-it’s a shotgun pass lobbed to the back left endzone. Pittsburgh Steelers Cornerback Brandin Echols jumps to intercept. The Tampa Bay wide receiver drops between the defender's legs, arms stretched out. The ball stops between his fingers, and he pulls it in tightly. Emeka Egbuka stands as players rush over to congratulate and celebrate the rookie from Ohio State’s first touchdown in the NFL.

“Receivers don’t always stay on the ground, they run after the catch to gain yards, and (Egbuka) reminds me of Amon-Ra St. Brown in some ways, which is a high compliment,” said Tampa Bay Quarterback Baker Mayfield. 

The 19th overall draft pick in the NFL had been ripping up the fields in training camps leading up to pre-season. “First, it was a leaping grab in front of the goalpost in the back of the end zone. Then it was a toe-tap touchdown in the back right corner for another touchdown. Each day of Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp seems to bring another head-turning play for rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka, and the only thing as consistent is the unmitigated praise from teammates and coaches,” said Greg Auman of Fox Sports. 

Egbuka opened up week one of pre-season with a powerful opening drive with a 21-yard reception and has continued that momentum into week two with two targets and one reception for the five-yard touchdown. After four total targets from the past two weeks, Egbuka has a 50% reception rate with an average push of 13 yards. 

"You can put Emeka in anywhere. It really is the truth. It is fun to be able to have a guy like that, who is that intelligent, does not act like a rookie. It raises the standard for everybody else,” said Mayfield. 

Mayfield has not seen any field time during the 2025 pre-season. As the starting QB for the Buccaneers, head coach Todd Bowles has decided to keep him off the field until the regular season begins. “We haven’t discussed it yet, but typically, I don’t usually play starters for all three games. We’ll see, but he doesn’t need to play to be ready for the season,” said Bowles.

With Mayfield spectating, Egbuka has been the receiver of high praise. As we get closer to the regular season, mere weeks away, we can expect Mayfield to keep an eye out for the WR and for Egbuka to be targeted more heavily starting in September.