The Buccaneers added another wideout to this roster, grabbing Emeka Egbuka at No. 19 overall.
Let's examine Ebuka's 2025 fantasy football outlook and Dynasty value.
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Emeka Egbuka 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook
Egbuka is a former five-star recruit, starting the past three seasons for Ohio State.
He worked primarily out of the slot in college, where he should kick off his NFL career. Similar to former teammate Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
After taking over for Smith-Njigba as a true sophomore in 2022, Egbuka caught 74 passes for 1,151 yards and 10 touchdowns.
He took a step back in 2023, paired with ankle and knee injuries, catching 41 passes for 515 yards and 4 touchdowns before closing his tenure at Ohio State with 81 receptions for 1,011 yards and 8 touchdowns this past season.
81.1% of his snaps were from the slot this past season, where he caught 60 passes for 785 yards and 9 touchdowns (2.41 yards per route).
It is the ancillary stuff for Egbuka that makes his transition to the NFL more of a leap of faith.
Only 10.4% of his targets came on throws 20 or more yards downfield (third lowest rate in this class).
Egbuka does not have a strong tackle-breaking resume.
He forced a missed tackle on only 12.4% of his receptions last season, 40th in this class.
Against man coverage, his 2.46 yards per route run ranked 24th.
Despite playing so many of his snaps in the slot, 20.8% of his targets ended up as contested catches. That was the highest rate for any player with a slot rate as high as his.
He converted those well as a positive, catching 59.1% (13 of 22).
Egbuka has the size (6-foot-even and 202 pounds) to extend his role outside, but unfortunately, he was in offenses alongside Marvin Harrison Jr. and Jeremiah Smith.
Many collegiate wideouts would have played secondary roles to those players, but Egbuka posting his best season as a sophomore alongside Harrison Jr. is on his resume.
He will also find his initial receiver room in the NFL filled with a ton of talent.
The duo of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin still anchors the Tampa Bay receiving corps.
Evans missed three games last season, catching 74 passes for 1,004 yards and 11 touchdowns.
His 5.3 receptions per game were his most since 2018.
Despite his missed time, Evans had 18 end zone targets, tied for second in the league behind Ja’Marr Chase (21).
Evans turns 32 this August and is set to become an unrestricted free agent again next offseason, which does open some runway for Egbuka if Evans is not retained beyond 2025.
He also has Godwin's potential health in play.
The Bucs retained Godwin this offseason on a three-year contract that is more of a two-year deal with a club option in 2027.
Godwin enjoyed a strong bounce-back campaign last season until an ankle injury ended it seven weeks into the year.
Up until that point, Godwin was averaging a league-high 7.1 receptions per game, which was a career-high.
His 82.3 yards per game were his most per game since the 2019 season.
Liam Coen played a role in Godwin recapturing his success, using him effectively near the line of scrimmage.
Godwin averaged a career-low 5.7 air yards per target.
As a result, a career-high 62.3% of his yards came after the catch.
After only 6.9% of his targets in 2023 were on wide receiver screens, Godwin had a 16.1% screen rate last year.
Only 1.6% of his targets came 20 yards or further downfield, the lowest rate of his career.
We will see what Josh Grizzard keeps in the offense, but Evans and Godwin are as complementary a pair of wideouts as you can have.
Over the past two seasons, we have seen first-round wide receivers land in spots with established target earners in Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Rome Odunze.
Both players were slow burns as rookies.
That is a probable outcome for Egbuka in year one, needing a door to open for target opportunities.
But last year, Baker Mayfield just had 171 dropbacks last year without Evans and Godwin on the field.
He averaged only 6.6 Y/A, with A 73.6 rating throwing to wide receivers on those plays.
Given the age of both players paired with their injury histories, that could happen.
Godwin has played one full season since 2018.
Evans has had a hamstring injury in four straight seasons.
That said, that is also before accounting for Jalen McMillan.
McMillan was selected in the third round (92nd overall) last season.
Over 13 games, McMillan grabbed 37 of 58 targets for 461 yards and 8 touchdowns.
McMillan has had a nice close to his rookie season after a slow start.
Over the final five weeks, he collected 24 of 31 targets for 316 yards and 7 touchdowns.
He has at least five catches in each of his final four games.
Egbuka’s addition does impact McMillan overall, making him a volatile bench option.
TL;DR Fantasy Impact Notes
- Mid-late first round Rookie Pick and bench WR4/WR5 for 2025 redraft
