Bucs Nation
As the offensive portion of our offseason review nears its end, we’ll examine the group with by far the most questions entering the season.
The Bucs’ offense will likely live and die by the production of its receiving corps and, by extension, its chemistry with quarterback Baker Mayfield. Let’s dive right into it.
It’s hard to keep dwelling on it, but it’s an immutably present question for the 2026 Buccaneers until toe meets leather. Their franchise icon and all-time best offensive player is gone, and he leaves behind a hole in the depth chart that’s not easily replaceable.
Ability to consistently beat man coverage, excellent jump ball and highlight-reel catch skills, true explosive play potential — Mike Evans brough all of these qualities to the table for 12 seasons and 176 career games. Whether or not those strengths could be reliably counted on at this point in his career is a valid question, but it’s foolish to deny he is still an extremely useful player when healthy.
Without him on the field, Tampa struggled severely with uncovering versus man coverage, so you can expect to see heavy doses of such until the new-look corps can show otherwise.
So when looking at what it means to lose Evans, it’s just as much about how he won versus the simple stats. That will be the biggest puzzle the remaining pass catchers and new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson need to decode.
Emeka Egbuka shocked everyone last year by: A.) being the Bucs’ first-round pick in the first place, and B.) producing prolifically in his first 8 professional games.
Egbuka stepped right in for the absences of Godwin and Evans and showed immediate chemistry with Mayfield, playing like one of the best receivers in football during the first half. Before the bye week, in 8 games, Egbuka recorded 34 receptions for 562 yards and 5 touchdowns. He made eye-popping catches over big-name competition, created huge chunk plays, and generally looked like a polished pro.
Then it all went…not as great.
Egbuka’s stats in weeks 9-18 cratered along with the rest of the offense as teams figured out how to defend him. The rest of the unit struggling with injuries and efficiency did not help, but Egbuka very much looked like a rookie trying to do too much. he logged just 29 catches (on 64 targets!) for 376 yards and 1 touchdown. His catch rate finished at a concerningly low 49.6%.
It’s not all doom and gloom, nor should it be. The tape Egbuka put up in the first 8 weeks of 2025 shows a player doing lots of things well, but it’s always about staying ahead of the competition, and that is extremely difficult. Egbuka is young (will be 24 in October), mature, and now possesses a full year’s experience of being asked to handle a huge load. With a new coordinator hopefully better equipped to handle playcalling...
