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Emeka Egbuka was a polished receiver throughout his spectacular career at Ohio State. He played with Jaxon Smith-Njigba during his college career and he also played with spectacular freshman Jeremiah Smith when he helped the Buckeyes win the national championship last year. Egbuka was not usually the headliner when playing for Ohio State, but he did everything right on the field.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers certainly noticed Egbuka and loved what they saw when they studied him in the weeks and months leading up to the draft. Despite a need on the defensive line, the Bucs used the No. 17 pick to select Egbuka.
Egbuka left Ohio State as the career receptions leader with 205 and he was second in career receiving yards with 2,868.
The 6-1, 205-pound wide out caught 81 passes for 1,011 yards and 10 touchdowns in his senior year.
If any of his new teammates questioned why general manager Jason Licht decided to bring Egbuka into the fold with such a valuable pick, they stopped asking about it in the early days of training camp. The Buccaneers veterans saw a mature player who went about his business quietly and performed like an accomplished professional. Instead of trying to make a name for himself so he would stand out, he quickly appeared to be a perfect fit for the system and a solid target for quarterback Baker Mayfield.
There were no nerves or anxiety that showed up in Tampa Bay’s season opener against the Atlanta Falcons. Egbuka may have felt he was back at Ohio State and the Buckeyes were playing against a Mid-American Conference opponent like Miami of Ohio. He ran decisive routes through the Atlanta secondary and caught four of six targets for 67 yards and two touchdowns. He led Tampa Bay in receiving, contributing more than superstar Mike Evans or Sterling Shepard in the 23-20 road victory.
He has made his first adjustment to the NFL and he looks like he will be able to contribute on an every-week basis. Instead of being a complementary player who works his way into the Tampa Bay game plan slowly, he looks like he will be a featured performer for Mayfield and head coach Todd Bowles.
Don’t count out Egbuka making a strong run at the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
The rookie of the year award is not given out after the first week of play, and Egbuka will face plenty of competition. He will most likely face quite a bit of heat in the weeks to come when other rookies step forward.
Ashton Jeanty of the Las Vegas Raiders was selected with the No. 6 pick after his spectacular career at Boise State.
Jeanty is a running back who combines shocking strength with surprising speed. Those two characteristics give Jeanty power when he runs, and he could easily surpass 1,200 rushing yards this...
