When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected wide receiver Emeka Egbuka with the 19th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, everyone knew that the Bucs were trying to build a true juggernaut offense around quarterback Baker Mayfield with a wide receiver trio of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Egbuka alongside 1,000 yard back Bucky Irving anchoring the backfield.
And when everyone was healthy, the Buccaneers were flying. They began the season as one of the best offenses and one of the best overall teams in the NFL, looking like a possible Super Bowl contender with many tabbing Baker Mayfield as an early favorite to win MVP over the Holy Trinity of Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson.
However, as injuries hit, the responsibility and pressure on Egbuka mounted, and Mayfield's purple patch faded into outright struggles. And it was Egbuka who suffered the most as a rookie wide receiver facing tough matchups, and even as he played very well to consistently get open, his drops and Mayfield's errant quarterbacking have devolved into Egbuka becoming the target of criticism.
Emeka Egbuka is sealed
The critics are absolutely laughable. Because what Egbuka is doing as a rookie wide receiver puts him on a trajectory to be a true star player in the NFL already. There is a saying in fantasy football that if a rookie wideout is ready enough to bag 525 receiving yards, chances are they are going to make it big. Although that is fantasy and these kinds of statistical quirks are not iron clad truth, it is clear looking through history that the wide receivers who are ready to produce tend to go on to have a strong careers.
Egbuka showed up ready from day one, and although things are falling apart at the seams for the Buccaneers organization over the past several weeks, that is more on the head coach, quarterback, and roster as a whole, rather than a rookie wide receiver who is suffering from the impact of everything around him.
At the end of the day, Egbuka is already sitting on 54 catches and 806 receiving yards with a whopping 15 yards per reception as a first year wide receiver in the NFL. Those are incredible numbers, so he has well surpassed the 525 mark. It would be a shock if he did not hit 1,000 yards, and if the Bucs offense finally picks up in the final weeks with a better Mayfield under center, 1,200 is not out of the question. Anyone criticizing Egbuka has totally missed the forest for the trees.