While I didn’t expect the Bucs to select him in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, I was quite the fan of Emeka Egbuka as a draft pick. Outside of Travis Hunter, he was the top wide receiver on my draft board. I loved just about every part of his game. His route running. His catch-on-collision skills. His ability to create separation. His after the catch drive and determination to create more yards. There wasn’t a single part of his game that wasn’t polished and professional.
That’s why the comp to Chris Godwin was so obvious and effortless for Egbuka. And I wasn’t the only one making that connection. In the latest edition of “In The Current” the Bucs scouting department also made that comparison in their own evaluation process.
Be Mindful of Training Camp Evaluations Against Larger Bodies of Work
The past two training camps have provided plenty of hype surrounding rookie wide receivers. And sometimes that hype has flown in the face of scouting reports of larger bodies of work. In 2023, Trey Palmer had a fantastic camp. It led many to openly wonder if he could supplant Russel Gage as the team’s third receiver. His college tape suggested he had a couple of solid traits, but he was a day three pick for a reason. But the hype train had left the building.
Palmer became the team’s third receiver after Gage was lost for the season due to a torn patellar tendon. Despite the training camp buzz, Palmer had a lackluster rookie season more in-line with his draft evaluation.
Bucs WR Trey Palmer – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
As if in the movie “Groundhog Day” history repeated itself last year with third round pick Jalen McMillan. Reports had him as a camp darling, catching everything in sight and building a special connection with quarterback Baker Mayfield. But when the season started up it took him a considerable amount of time to adjust and thrive. Despite injuries forcing Chris Godwin and Mike Evans to miss time, McMillan was averaging just 1.6 catches and 18.1 yards per game through the first 13 weeks of the season, while struggling with catching in traffic and beating jams. His play for much of his rookie season aligned more with his draft eval than with his camp hype.
With Emeka Egbuka The Reports Match
I got my first live look at Egbuka in training camp. And even though my colleagues have raved about him, there is something about getting to watch him in person. Training camp performances provide recent data points. But if they diverge significantly from a player’s larger body of work, I tend to put less stock in them. In this case, Egbuka ran almost 1,000 routes at a major college program. That’s going to carry a ton more weight for me than a bad practice day.
Where Egbuka differs from his teammates Palmer and McMillan is that these training camp reports, and what I saw yesterday, reinforce his draft evaluation rather than differ from it. He hasn’t suddenly picked up a new gear. He isn’t making spectacular catches that were absent from his college film. His route running and ability to create space against both man and zone coverages isn’t vastly different from how he won at Ohio State. All of this checks out. His role versatility was present in college as well.
Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
It didn’t take long for me to clock him yesterday. I wasn’t going out of my way to find him either. I was trying to evaluate defensive back play and all of a sudden, the crisp cuts at the top of his stem caught my eye. His secure, late-breaking hands popped on the ball as he snatched it into his grasp. He was fearless working through contact. It all matched everything he showed in college. And that is 100% encouraging that the situation he is now in does not intimidate him.
His practice habits further the narrative of the professionalism that he attacks every day with. Combining all of that with his natural talent portends big things are in store for the young pass catcher. And that’s not training camp hype, but a continuation of a much longer and more thorough evaluation of a young man who has been doing all of this for a long time.
