Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport X account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to SR each week via X using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: I’m not sold on Emeka Egbuka as a WR1 – is Pewter Report sold?

ANSWER: No, I’m not sold on Emeka Egbuka being WR1 in Tampa Bay right now. Not yet. And that’s no hate towards Emeka Egbuka. That’s just a look at the facts from a small, one-year sample size from his rookie year, which was really a tale of two drastically different halves.

Egbuka had a fantastic training camp as a rookie – probably the second-best camp of any Buccaneer behind Mike Evans in 2025. Then he came out guns a blazing with three touchdowns in the first two games, including game-winners at Atlanta and at Houston. Egbuka, the team’s first-round pick last year, hauled in 40 catches for 677 yards and six touchdowns in the first nine games of the year. He looked like a WR1 type, especially playing a ton of snaps while Evans and Chris Godwin Jr. missed several games due to injuries.

Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka – Photo by: USA Today

But over the final eight games, Egbuka hit a wall. Maybe it was a rookie wall because his season was extended well into the College Football Playoffs as Ohio State won the national championship. But over the last eight games of his first season in Tampa Bay, Egbuka produced very pedestrian numbers, catching just 23 passes for 261 yards and no touchdowns.

Egbuka feasted on zone coverage as a rookie, but struggled getting open against man coverage. Perhaps more opponents figured that out during the stretch last year and that contributed to his statistical decline. The fact that Egbuka didn’t have a single game with 65 yards receiving over those final eight games makes me question if he can be Tampa Bay’s true No. 1 receiver replacing Evans, or if he is more of a Godwin-type No. 2 receiver.

What’s concerning is that Egbuka didn’t have as good of a training camp this year as he had during his rookie season. And he suffered a turf toe injury that could very linger into the 2026 regular season – if he’s able to play through any pain or discomfort in Week 1 at Cincinnati. I know Egbuka put up WR1 numbers last year with 63 receptions for 938 yards and six touchdowns – all of which led Tampa Bay. But I want to see him be able to do that again this year with more consistency and actually more production before I can state that Egbuka is this team’s true legit WR1.

QUESTION: What’s the pecking order for the WRs – Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin Jr., Jalen McMillan, Ted Hurst III?

ANSWER: The pecking order will be determined more by quarterback Baker Mayfield than head coach Todd Bowles or offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. Mayfield’s favorite receiver this year will be the open receiver. He has shown a penchant for finding the open target – whoever it is – and throwing the ball that way. And without Mike Evans on the field in Tampa Bay this year, Mayfield doesn’t have to force the ball in Evans’ direction, as has been the case at times over the last couple of seasons given Evans’ status (and his playmaking ability, of course).

Having said that, I would think that Chris Godwin Jr. will likely receive the most targets just because of the role he’ll play in Robinson’s offense, which is similar to Liam Coen’s offense in 2024. That season, Godwin started on a torrid pace, catching a team-high 50 passes on 62 targets for 576 yards and five touchdowns through the first seven games in 2024.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin Jr. and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

Granted, Godwin is now 30 and has probably lost a half a step due to his fractured ankle that prematurely ended his 2024 season. But he looks a lot better and healthier than he did last year and is coming off a great camp. No other receiver on the current roster has been targeted more by Mayfield over the years than Godwin, and no other receiver has Mayfield’s trust like Godwin does.

I think Godwin will lead the Bucs in targets and catches this year in Robinson’s short and intermediate passing game, while Emeka Egbuka will lead the team in yardage and will be just behind Godwin in terms of receptions. Jalen McMillan has had problems staying healthy, and he’s missed a month of training camp due to a knee injury in August. His health will determine how productive he ultimately is this season and how much of a factor he’ll become in the passing game.

Rookie Ted Hurst III is the real wild card. He lacks experience, but is oozing with talent. And he has plenty of size at 6-foot-4, 205 pounds to make him an easy-to-spot target for Mayfield. If Hurst, who was healthy all training camp, produces early and wins Mayfield’s trust on Sundays, he could be in the mix to be a primary receiver by the end of the year. Yet I do think Hurst will lead the team in touchdowns because he’ll feast in the lower red zone on jump balls and fade passes into the end zone.

QUESTION: With the rise of David Walker in camp and preseason, how much playing time do you think he will get with Yaya Diaby and Rueben Bain Jr. taking the primary reps on the edge? is there possibility for packages with all three of them in the formation?

ANSWER: Yes, Todd Bowles will have packages where Yaya Diaby, Rueben Bain Jr. and David Walker are all on the field together. Bowles even admitted in an interview on the Rondé Barber Show that he has a NASCAR package which features all four speedy edge rushers, including Al-Quadin Muhammad, along the front four in third-and-long and obvious passing downs. I would suspect Muhammad and either Bain or Diaby would be inside with the other on the outside opposite Walker.

As for Walker cutting into Bain and Diaby’s snaps, that will happen regardless as Bowles typically rotates his edge rushers to keep his starters fresh. Last year it was Anthony Nelson and Chris Braswell on the second-team line at outside linebacker, and that tandem was largely ineffective when it came to rushing the passer. This year it will likely be Walker and Muhammad with Nelson mixed in for certain matchups.

Bucs OLB David Walker – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

The more effective Walker is when he’s on the field rushing the passer, the more snaps he’ll earn as the season goes on. While he had a great training camp and a very promising preseason with a slew of pressures, Walker has yet to play in a real, meaningful regular season game. That starts this Sunday at Cincinnati in the 2026 season opener.

The Bucs have high hopes for Walker this year as a sub package pass rusher, but he does have some work to do in run defense and that will likely limit his playing time until he can prove he’s stout against the run and not a liability. It’s also worth noting that Walker did feast on a lot of second- and third-string offensive tackles in camp and in the preseason. Now he’ll be going up against much more talented starters with plenty of NFL experience, so there will naturally be a learning curve for him this year.

QUESTION: How’s does this current roster compare to last year’s Bucs roster?

ANSWER: It’s night and day different, really, especially on defense. Todd Bowles will have as many as five new starters, including three rookies – inside linebacker Josiah Trotter, outside linebacker Rueben Bain Jr. and nickelback Keionte Scott – on defense. Defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson and inside linebacker Alex Anzalone are the other new starters.

Three out of the four inside linebackers are new, including Christian Rozeboom, while half of the defensive tackle room is new, including reserves Rakeem Nunez-Roches and rookie DeMonte Capehart. Out of the team’s 53 players, there are 17 newcomers this year – 18 if you count outside linebacker David Walker, who was on injured reserve all last year due to a torn ACL. That’s about one-third of the roster.

Bucs ILB Alex Anzalone – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Now does “new” equal “better?” That will ultimately be determined on the field each Sunday this season. But on paper, it sure seems like the talent has been upgraded, and not just the starters. The depth seems to have seen an upgrade in talent as well.

We saw this roster overhaul coming this offseason when the team barely re-signed any of its own free agents, opting to bring in far more new faces this year as opposed to last year in free agency. And of course the team has once again hit its draft class with every pick making the 53-man roster this year, so that aids in the newness as well.