Emeka Egbuka Pick Has A Josh Grizzard Component
May 2nd, 2025
A Tampa Bay Buccaneers photo.
So would the Bucs have handed their first-year, first-time offensive coordinator another prime weapon if they didn’t have extreme confidence he could maximize it?
Joe thinks it’s an extraordinarily safe bet that what playcaller Josh Grizzard showcased behind the scenes at One Buc Palace through his first 10 weeks or so helped the Bucs feel fantastic about making Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka their first-round pick.
The Bucs had a loaded offense before taking Egbuka. They don’t grab him without thinking Grizzard has the chops to get the most out of players and spread the ball around creatively like his predecessor Liam Coen did.
Joe’s heard impressive things about Grizzard’s prep work behind the scenes, since getting his promotion in January.
Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht gave a bit of a general update on that during his visit to The Rich Eisen Show yesterday.
“He’s a really sharp guy and it was a seamless fit for us,” Licht said of Grizzard. “And so far, it seems like it was a great decision by Todd.”
Licht stressed Grizzard’s strong relationships within the team and how Baker Mayfield was “confident” and “comfortable” handing the job to “Grizz” at 34 years old. Grizzard spending years with Dolphins offensive guru Mike McDaniel, as well as with departed Bucs playcaller Liam Coen, was also on Licht’s mind.
As fans may remember, Joe had a 1-on-1 chat with McDaniel about Grizzard this year. Those can be found here and found here.
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May 2nd, 2025 at 6:42 pm
Will we continue the trend of OC’s to head coaches next offseason once we win the SB?
May 2nd, 2025 at 6:47 pm
If we hit on 2 receivers in 2 years that would be insane.
May 2nd, 2025 at 7:25 pm
Who has a better Wide receiving Corps than this team and a great running back combo with a Top 5 Oline and a Franchise QB? Let’s take care of that putrid pass defense and get us another Lombardi. Go Bucs!
May 2nd, 2025 at 7:42 pm
Joe
Never forget is “El Serpiente” Lían Coen!
May 2nd, 2025 at 7:54 pm
The consensus on him is all over the board.
One thing that is for sure his head is on straight.
Funny thing he is the only draft pick I am worried about.
I think he will be solid no doubt, but will he play up to his draft status?
May 2nd, 2025 at 8:03 pm
We definitely have the most receiving talent I’ve seen.
If Mike stays healthy and Chris works his way back to his true 100% at some point this season how’s anybody going to guard all of our pass-catchers?
I know they can’t all be on the field at once but we now have more than 2 guys we can count on to actually get open and catch the ball.
Mike
Chris
J-Mac
EE
Shep
and maybe “Taz”
+ our tight ends and backs!
I’ll be shocked if Chris is ready for the start of the season or is 100% at any point this year. I hope I’m wrong but gaining the confidence to make sharp cuts, starts and stops etc after having his foot turned backwards less than a year ago seems like a big ask from any human being.
May 2nd, 2025 at 8:34 pm
@Truth be Told …I like the energy, but top 5 Oline?…hmmm…not even close imo. I’d argue not even top 10…we will see this season with Barton in his second year, and everyone else getting more savvy in their roles.
Hear me out…
There’s been a handful of Oline skeptics (I’m one of them) that have pointed out Baker slipping out of a collapsing pockets throughout the season giving us positive yards. Baker rushing for 60 yards is not something we really want to see from him. None of which are designed runs. Keep in mind, we’re talking 3rd and long. Brady would’ve been killed if he was behind this offensive line on 3rd downs. There was a lot of issues hidden by Baker’s elusiveness and Bucky ripping off big runs resetting downs. What appeared much better was the run blocking by the Oline.
Go back, watch that Dallas game, it was painful to watch. Bucky was stifled early, and the Coen lateral passing game was sniffed out. Anytime Baker needed to go vertical, the pocket wasn’t there.
As this Oline goes, so does the Bucs chances of winning. I’m hoping it’s a significant strength of the team this season.
May 2nd, 2025 at 9:08 pm
One could argue the thing Ronde was discussing about something being up with one of the receivers, which is why they drafted Egbuka, is to bring Godwin along throughout the season. He wasn’t quite the same the season after he tore his ACL and returned to form the next year. Bring him along, reduce his overall snaps and keep him a Buc 4 Life! I think that could have been a part of the calculus.
May 2nd, 2025 at 10:07 pm
Egbuka is a great pick. He does everything right. If you have a top 10 draft pick on your board and you have the chance to select him in the bottom half of the 1st round that’s what you do. Understandable why the didn’t trade back.
Next year’s draft is loaded with LBs which is good for us.
Go Bucs!
May 2nd, 2025 at 10:11 pm
From what I’ve seen watching Egbuka’s highlights, he’s pretty good at tracking the deep ball. He said himself that he is thanks to his baseball skills in the outfield. Grizzard has mentioned wanting to go deep, Joe & Ira have discussed many times how we should be going deep at least 5x a game. Joe called out Liam Cohen or maybe it was the other way around for his dink and dunk offense. I think that will be the difference Grizzard and Egbuka will bring to this offense in 25.
May 2nd, 2025 at 10:35 pm
The pick of EE has nothing to do with Griz. EE has been targeted as a pick long before Grizz was named OC.
With ME13 and CG14 aging and being injured, Licht knew he needed to target WR soon. EE had great tape from a WR factory at OSU, and B-Mac knew EE from recruiting and could vouch for EE’s character. EE is a great player with solid character where the Bucs will need a WR in the next year or so.
I’m not sure I like going WR at 19, but I do really like EE and feel confident he will be a great player. LFG!
May 2nd, 2025 at 10:52 pm
You’re talking about a severely underappreciated quality in a WR @ Estaban85 !
A wide receiver who excels at that skill = tracking the ball and adjusting his path to be where its going to be at the exactly right time becomes an instant deep threat.
I see 3 deep threats on the team this year….Guys with enough speed, ball tracking skills, body control, and hands for us to have an improved deep pass game. Mike, J-mac, EE
2 of them can work the underneath shlt with Chris too.
Has any new OC ever had such a stacked squad to work with.
Go Grizz, you got this.
May 2nd, 2025 at 11:55 pm
Add Gronkowksi.
And we’ve got a Super Bowl offense.
(Still worried about the offensive line though)
There was way too much activity in our backfield last year.
May 3rd, 2025 at 5:59 am
I am already anxious for those worhless preseaon games Joe!
Watson plugging up the middle. Tez wowing us on a return. EE showing us he has his own legit chops. And Grizz fooling defenses. Hell Yeah!
May 3rd, 2025 at 7:39 am
“And so far, it seems like it was a great decision by Todd.”
Oh noes!!! Praise for Todd? Some people here are probably hurling in their Cheerios.
I think the D is ready to pick up the slack and begin to challenge the O’s success.
But this pick for an already loaded team means the Buc’s O has a HUGE advantage that the D does not yet have…DEPTH. Other than Baker and Wirfs there are no irreplaceable guys on offense. Can’t say that…yet…about the D
Injuries wreaked havoc on last year’s D, lets hope for better luck this year and some rookie surprises on D like Bucky was on O last year.
May 3rd, 2025 at 8:35 am
I’m looking forward to OTA’s and camp. I went to a couple camp practices and I hope the Glazers open up more of them!
I’ll be looking at Barton and Breds – has Barton gotten stronger in the offseason and can Breds show he’s not the weak link?
I’m NOT a Baker hater, but can he continue to improve his touch passes and deep passes?
Will Morrison be healthy enough to practice and be available?