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Can Buccaneers' Emeka Egbuka Be Baker Mayfield's No. 1 Weapon?

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Adam Schultz | Last updated May 13, 2025 9:02 AM ET

Where you get drafted in the NFL matters, and for Emeka Egbuka, we are struggling to think of a better situation he could have landed than in Tampa Bay with the Buccaneers.

Why? With Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, Egbuka can learn from two studs in his first year, plus he has Baker Mayfield as his quarterback, who is coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons.

Those are as good a reason as any.

So Emeka will slot into an offense as the third option, maybe fourth behind Jalen McMillan, who hauled in eight touchdowns in his rookie season, and that will allow Egbuka to quietly go about his development in the background while not getting a lot of attention from defences.

For NFL.com's Marc Ross, Egbuka has landed in one of the best situations to kickstart his career.

"Tampa Bay returns both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, meaning Egbuka can learn from them and make plays in the slot while the veteran duo garners all the attention on the perimeter," Ross writes. "I envision Egbuka playing on a track similar to that of his fellow former Buckeye Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was third fiddle to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett early on in his career before eventually emerging as Seattle's leading receiver."

Training camp will make for an interesting watch with McMillan and Egbuka "fighting" for the No. 3 receiver role, and if those two are your third pass-catching options, you're doing well.

Loving doing the dirty work in the run game, Egbuka will also be a key cog for Bucky Irving, too, because the Buccaneers are one of the best rushing teams in football, and show no signs of being anything other than that in 2025.

Egbuka comes into the NFL able to learn from a future Hall of Famer in Evans, a Pro Bowler in Godwin, so he can see how they go about their business both on and off the field, and there isn't pressure for him to come in and be a star from the get-go - he can ease himself into his career.

Where you get drafted matters.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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