Emeka Egbuka needed just one game to prove the Buccaneers right

Next to Bucky Irving there wasn't a more hyped Tampa Bay Buccaneers player than Emeka Egbuka. He was a fantasy sleeper darling, was being pegged as a potential Rookie of the Year darkhorse, and was being added to an already stakced wide receiver room.

It took him just one game to justify the hype correct.

Egbuka finished his rookie debut with 67-yards and two touchdowns, both of which were game-changing plays.

The first score came in the second quarter after the Bucs had already fallen into a 7-3 hole. Egbuk was on the receiving end of a 30-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield, giving the Bucs the lead but doing a little more than that in the process.

Over the last few years we've watched the Bucs start slow, but it was once the offense started to run through Mike Evans that things got going. Egbuka played that role on Sunday, filled Evans' shoes in his very first game.

Evans finished the game with five catches and 51-yards, so it's not like he wasn't a factor. Egbuka's day was additive, but the fact that the offense didn't start flowing -- and the Bucs didn't truly hit their groove -- until his score is amazing.

His second touchdown of the game was even better, mostly because it ended up being the difference in a win for the Buccaneers. After a harrowing, but ill-fated, defensive stand by the defense, Tampa Bay's offense stormed back into the lead with a 25-yard touchdown catch by Egubka.

It was glorious.

This was everything Egbuka was advertised as being after the Bucs drafted him. His stock shot up during training camp and the preseason and it took just one game for him to deliever on the hype. Even if Tampa Bay had lost -- which was really looking like the case -- it wouldn't have taken an ounce away from Egbuka's performance.

No matter what ended up happening, Egbuka proved he's a play making wide receiver that makes the Bucs offense better. At a time when the team was without Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan, Egbuka proved to be the difference between a win and a loss, which is an absolutely huge way to make a rookie debut.

If this is just the first taste of what he can do, then the Buccaneers are in for one heck of a ride with Emeka Egbuka.

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