Former Ohio State star Emeka Egbuka is set to break out in year two for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Former Ohio State star wide receiver Emeka Egbuka took the NFL by storm early on in his rookie season in 2025.
He joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and immediately built up a strong chemistry with his quarterback, Baker Mayfield, and was the perfect sidekick to Mike Evans, who led the way.
Now that Tampa Bay let Evans walk, Egbuka is the No. 1 wide receiver for Tampa Bay and is poised for a breakout season.
In 2025, Egbuka finished with 63 catches for 938 yards and six touchdowns. He had three games with over 100 yards, with the crowning jewel being a seven-catch, 163-yard, one-touchdown game against the future Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks.
One of the things that stood out immediately once he was drafted by the Buccaneers was simply how ready he was for the next level. Mayfield noted very early on that Egbuka was ready and had what it took to be successful at the NFL level.
Egbuka is just the next in line of what is the best stretch of college wide receivers ever at Ohio State. From Mike Thomas to Terry McLaurin to Chris Olave to Garrett Wilson to Jaxon Smith-Njigba to Marvin Harrison Jr. to Egbkua and hopefully to Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith.
It is a ridiculous list of names that span over a decade of incredible play and production at both the college level and the NFL level.
As Egbuka looks to year number two, he will be fighting the tendency for a sophomore slump, but that is not in his DNA.
The last eight games of last year were a significant drop-off in production for Egbuka, who was legitimately in the running for an All-Pro season before only reaching 60-plus yards one time in the final eight weeks.
Now that he is the No. 1 option for Mayfield and the Bucs, that stretch simply cannot be a reality if Egbuka wants to have that kind of year.
The 2026 season is set up for Egbuka to be one of the most important in his already young career. The stakes are very high for the Buccaneers, who simply cannot miss the playoffs again.
The quarterback needs to be great, and for that to happen, Egbuka needs to be a Top-10 wide receiver in football.
Can he do it? Absolutely.
Will he do it? Time will tell.
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