The Tampa Bay Buccaneers can scarcely buy a win at this critical juncture of the 2025 NFL season. Falling to Super Bowl contenders like the Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, and Buffalo Bills was bad enough, because it served as rather definitive proof to the rest of the football world that the Bucs are a couple of tiers below that hallowed ground.
But now, the Bucs can barely beat the stricken Arizona Cardinals and just lost a tough divisional matchup against the worst team in the NFC South, the New Orleans Saints. And with the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers (twice) looming ahead, the margin for error for the 7-6 Bucs is suddenly zero.
A lot of players are not playing up to their standard right now, and yet the funny thing is that a rookie wide receiver already earmarked for stardom, Emeka Egbuka, is being targeted by even the national team types as an underperformer.
Emeka Egbuka has made costly mistakes
And it is true. Everyone has to be accountable, as quarterback Baker Mayfield likes to tell anyone associated with the Buccaneers organization, and Egbuka has to be a part of that, even as a highly promising rookie from the Ohio State wide receiver factory.
Egbuka has made frustrating drops for several weeks in a row, including a costly one against the Saints. He has caught fewer than five passes in three of the last four games despite being one of the team's primary targets alongside the returning Chris Godwin, and he has failed to step up in the absence of the legendary wideout Mike Evans.
But that's the thing. How is it fair for Egbuka to be balling out as the No. 1 wide receiver on a team stricken by injuries and with, let's keep the accountability going here, Mayfield playing honestly about as poorly as any quarterback in the NFL right now.
Buccaneers fans know two things. They know Egbuka is immensely talented and immensely motivated to succeed. Earlier this season when things were going well, there were no qualms about Egbuka's play. Now all of a sudden he is a problem when the coaching has been poor, the quarterbacking has been even worse, and the pressure has mounted with the injuries.
It is impossible for Egbuka to play like a seasoned veteran like Evans - or even Godwin, for that matter - as a rookie. He can be a big piece of the offense in a more secondary role, but it is too soon. And if Egbuka is going to get slammed for drops because to the uneducated fan, those stand out more, then Mayfield should be criticized 10 times for missing easy throws when he is open - or not even throwing it his way or at the right time.