The Bucs have needed Emeka Egbuka to be everything they hoped he would be when they selected him in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. While Tampa Bay's receiver room looked crowded at the time, and some fans thought he was a luxury pick who would initially start as WR4, Egbuka has turned out to be just what the team needed this year immediately – even if he wasn't drafted for an immediate need at the time.

While we expect Chris Godwin Jr. to make his 2025 debut this week against Philadelphia we're unsure about what his role – and his pitch count – will be. With Mike Evans out, Egbuka is suddenly thrust into the primary option role. And while this will be his first time serving in that spot on an extended basis – he was the primary at the end of the Jets game when he made two highlight-reel grabs on the final drive to help the Bucs to their third victory in as many games this year – he has been plenty involved in the offense so far this season.

Emeka Egbuka Is Headlining The Rookie Class

There has been just one rookie receiver who is keeping up with Emeka Egbuka this season, and that's Tetairoa McMillan. The two are neck-and-neck with each other when it comes to production.

• Emeka Egbuka – 94 routes, 21 targets, 14 receptions, 181 yards, 3 TDs, 12.9 yds/rec, 11.8 receiving expected points added
• Tetairoa McMillan – 107 routes, 27 targets, 14 receptions, 216 yds, 0 TDs, 15.4 yds/rec, 2.8 receiving expected points added

Other first-round receivers just have not hit the ground running in terms of productivity like these two have. Egbuka has been doing it in a variety of ways and from a plethora of alignments.

Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka WRs coach Bryan McClendon – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Where Emeka Egbuka Is Winning And Where He Can Grow

Emeka Egbuka has been the Bucs' biggest downfield threat, catching four of his six targets of 20+ air yards for 113 yards and two touchdowns. He has been excellent at creating a window for Baker Mayfield to hit on deep posts, as evidenced by his game winner in week one against Atlanta. Beyond the deep in-breakers, Egbuka has also won outside the hashes on fades where he is working one-on-one in man coverage. His spectacular one-handed grab early in the Jets game came with Sauce Gardner, one of the best cover corners in the NFL, running step-for-step with him off a pressed release.

Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs are also using him for manufactured touches and as a part of the short game a la Godwin. The vast majority of his targets, 12 of his 21, have come of the under 10 air-yard variety. This includes four screens that have netted a total of 22 yards. The most impressive of these was the 15-yard tunnel screen for a touchdown against the Texans.

Emeka Egbuka has caught three TDs in his first two games.

James Lofton is the only other player in NFL history to achieve this feat.

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He has complemented the screens with some quick hitches that get him the ball quickly and ask him to immediately change direction from a stop. But he is at his absolute best when he can catch in stride and redirect while already underway.

Where Egbuka has yet to make a positive impact is in the intermediate part of the field. This is an area where the Bucs will need him to step up in the absence of Evans. Last year Evans and Jalen McMillan accounted for just under 50% of the team's yards in the intermediate part of the field. So far this year Sterling Shepard has been the Robin to Evans' Batman when it comes to that role. But as Evans is knocked out of the lineup, roles will need to change, and each receiver will be asked to contribute in different ways.

Although for Egbuka, it might not be much of a change.

With the increased usage of Cover 2 by defenses, the backside dig is going to become one of the most important routes in any progression. We have already seen quarterback Baker Mayfield go to it on multiple occasions against Atlanta. Egbuka will be one of the two receivers most tasked with slotting into the X position that runs those routes regularly.

And he should be more than capable of handling those responsibilities. In his final year in college, he racked up 17 catches for 296 yards and five touchdowns when targeted in the intermediate part of the field, including on those dig routes. Pro Football Focus credited him with his highest grade, a 97.3, in that area of the field.

Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka – Photo by: USA Today

The book on Egbuka as he was coming out of college was that he was a Chris Godwin Jr. clone. Someone who can eat in the slot on short-to-intermediate routes where he has a two-way go. But so far most of his production has come from wide alignments. That's where he has 10 of his 14 catches and 150 of his 181 yards, not to mention all of his touchdowns.

Now, most of that has come from off-the-line alignments as a flanker (Z receiver) and if he takes over Evans' role while Evans is out it will require him to line up on the line as a split end (X receiver) and face more press coverage. But as he showed against Gardner, that may not be the problem that it once was thought of.

By putting Emeka Egbuka into that role, it allows Tez Johnson to naturally flow into the role Egbuka has been playing up until this point, oscillating between short area manufactured touches and getting open deep, as he did late against the Jets for what was almost a game-winning walk off bomb from Mayfield.

All of this also allow Sterling Shepard to continue to work the short-to-intermediate where he has been absolute nails thus far. And if the Bucs want to throw in a changeup and get Egbuka on the move with snap-motion or work him into the slot, Ryan Miller is capable of filling in as the X for a few snaps to give offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard that tool to use at just the right time.