Emeka Egbuka could never have imagined that midway through his rookie season he would be the centerpiece of the Tampa Bay Bucs’ receiving corps. He may wear No. 2, but Egbuka has become the No. 1 aerial target for quarterback Baker Mayfield – and opposing defenses.
You know the story by now, but with a big game looming in Buffalo, a review is in order.
On a team that boasted such impressive pass-catching talent as Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan, Egbuka figured to be only one piece of the passing attack – out to prove the team made a wise choice in using its first-round pick on him with an eye on the future.
But the future came early for Egbuka, and the Bucs decision to make him their top selection has never looked better.
For much of the season, due to the barrage of injuries to Buc receivers, the former Ohio State University standout has found himself as the man in the middle of the passing game.
Evans has spent the season on the sidelines – first hobbled for three weeks by a hamstring injury, and out for the season after suffering a broken collarbone in Week 6 against Detroit.
Godwin missed the start of the season with a dislocated ankle sustained in 2024, made a brief appearance in Week 5 when he injured his fibula and, though he returned to the practice field this week, a date for his return is still unknown. And McMillan’s preseason neck sprain has turned out to involve bone fractures. When he’ll be back is anybody’s guess.
All those factors have converged to make the 6-1, 205-pound rookie the receiver opposing defenses are now double-teaming – the kind of attention previously reserved for Evans.
"It's been amazing for me to be able to experience and learn all of it my rookie year,” he said this week. “I think it's helped me to grow faster than I would have had I not seen that early on. It's been really good for me. I have welcomed the challenge.”
And he has more than risen to it. Through nine games, Egbuka is tied for fourth in the NFL in receiving touchdowns (six) and ranks seventh in receiving yards (677). Among qualified wide receivers, he ranks third in the NFL with 16.9 yards per catch.
Egbuka breaks a tackle in win over the Saints. @ Matthew HintonIn the 28-23 loss to New England last week, he also tied Mike Evans for the most receiving touchdowns by a Buc player in their first nine career games (seven in 2014). And he is one of four players since 1971 to record 40-plus receptions and average at least 16.5 yards per reception through their first nine career games, joining Ja’Marr Chase in 2021, Justin Jefferson in 2020, and Evans in 2014.
“On the biggest stage in the National Football League, that is kind of what you want,” he said. “You want to be able to test yourself against the best of the best (and) go against the best defensive backs. That is what you want as a competitor – having that competitive nature like that. It's been really fun for me to be able to go through some of those things."
Against New England, Egbuka was covered by the Patriots’ top cornerback, Christian Gonzalez – and that coverage trend may continue throughout the season. Offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard says Egbuka is making the adjustment smoothly:
“Not that he wasn’t (seeing) some of those corners earlier in the season, but now, knowing that if (it’s) a Gonzalez, (Emeka thinks) ‘Hey, this guy is going to travel wherever I’m at. And knowing if they do have a double (team), ‘what’s the leverage where the window could be open differently? … I might have a void right here in the middle.’ Those are the kinds of things that go into it. But he sees that more and more I think he’s done a good job of keeping the production up even with some of those doubles.”
Fortunately for the Bucs, Egbuka has been joined by fellow rookie Tez Johnson, who has also stepped up to help fill the void. With two touchdown catches and 42 receiving yards against the Patriots, Johnson now has eclipsed 40 receiving yards in five straight games, tied for the longest-such streak by a rookie in the NFL this season. And with their touchdown grabs Sunday, Egbuka and Johnson became the first pair of rookie wide receivers to each produce a touchdown catch in the same game this season.
Grizzard praised Johnson for finding open space on both of his touchdowns – a product of getting more throws in practice with the first team.
“It essentially turned into a scramble drill and he had the wherewithal not to run out of bounds and be in the right area,” Grizzard said. “… A lot of these scrambles are not designed for Bake to run it, so we’re trying to get these guys in the right spots to throw it. And Tez did a really nice job on both of those – on really two critical plays.”
The duo will need to be back on their game Sunday against the 6-3 Bills in Buffalo weather predicted to be cold and rainy. But Egbuka isn’t worried about the forecast – not surprising for a guy who played in freezing and wet weather plenty for Ohio State,
"If it’s raining, they have wet-weather gloves and stuff like that,” he said. “If it’s colder, slap on some Vaseline, you'll be alright."
Egbuka was also alright this past week with the stern words Mayfield had for the offense following last week’s loss, dropping the Bucs to 6-3 though still firmly in first in the NFC South. Mayfield’s message was that every player needs to be accountable, and the players responded well to it with a crisp walk-through on Wednesday.
"We don't have too many divas in this locker room who think they're above the law or anything like that,” he said. “We know everyone has to do their one-eleventh, whoever is on the field. People took great accountability, came in … and had a focused, locked-in session. … (We) just have to continue stacking days throughout the week to fix everything that we need to fix before Sunday's kickoff."
But Sunday is only part of the task. The Bucs follow with a West Coast road trip on Nov. 23 to face the Los Angeles Rams, tied with Seattle for first place in the NFC West at 7-2.
"We knew we had a stretch to go through, but that's what NFL football is,” Egbuka said. “Any week, every team has the talent to take out the other team. There is really no opponent that goes overlooked for us. We knew coming out of the bye we were just going to have to recenter and refocus. It was good for guys to be able to get healthy and get their bodies right, but now we have to go, and we have to have a great run going into the postseason."
For that to happen, they'll need No. 2 to keep producing in the passing game as their No. 1.