When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted Emeka Egbuka in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, they envisioned him becoming the team’s top wide receiver after Mike Evans left, whenever that would be. 

Egbuka would hit the ground running, immediately showing the talent that made him such a coveted prospect coming off a National Championship season at Ohio State. The rookie had possibly the best five-game stretch to start a career of any WR in NFL history. 

However, as the season progressed, Egbuka’s play started to fall off dramatically. Injuries to fellow WRs Evans, Chris Godwin Jr., and Jalen McMillan allowed defenses to focus their attention on Egbuka. 

After Week 9, Egbuka had only one game with more than 42 receiving yards and didn’t score a touchdown. 

Despite his struggles over the second half of the season, Egbuka’s rookie season was still a success. He finished the campaign with 63 catches, 938 receiving yards, and six touchdowns. 

Unfortunately for the Bucs, Evans’ time with the team ended much sooner than anticipated. He left for the San Francisco 49ers in free agency this offseason after a dozen legendary years with the club. 

Without Evans, the pressure on Egbuka to step up and fill his shoes was heavy. Godwin was coming off back-to-back seasons plagued by injury, making it difficult to rely on him to take over for Evans as WR1. 

Tampa general manager Jason Licht spoke about the struggles Egbuka went through over the last half of 2025 were behind him. 

Licht chalked them up to multiple factors: the rookie wall, extra wear and tear from Ohio State’s championship run, lack of downtime to recover before the pre-draft schedule, etc.

He believed Egbuka was ready to become one of the league’s top WRs and would help the Bucs overcome the loss of Evans. 

Through four weeks, Egbuka’s play has not nearly been what the Bucs hoped. Or needed. 

Tampa has stumbled out of the gate to an 0-4 record, and Egbuka’s lack of impact has been one of the reasons why. 

If the Bucs want to have any hope at all this season, the time has come for Egbuka to step up and be the WR1 the team desperately needs. 

Through four games, all losses, Egbuka has only 15 catches for 154 yards and a single TD. 

That’s not going to cut it. 

Egbuka has a high output of 63 yards, which he achieved in the season opener. He also has two games with 16 yards or less, including Week 4’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, where he was held to two catches for a season-low 13 yards. 

Against the Packers, the Bucs were relying on undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, who was making his first NFL start. Daniels desperately needed his teammates to step up, especially Egbuka, to help ease his burden. 

Egbuka, like everyone else on Tampa’s offense, was unable to rise to the occasion. 

The Bucs will be starting Daniels again on Thursday against the Dallas Cowboys. The team cannot afford another game where Egbuka fails to make an impact. 

Egbuka has the talent to be Tampa’s WR1. The Bucs need him to step up and start playing like one.