“Excited” For Emeka Egbuka And Bucs Offense
August 26th, 2025
NFL analyst can’t wait.
Whether Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht drafted Emeka Egbuka because he feared star receivers were getting too old, or whether it was a CYA move in case Chris Godwin missed games or Mike Evans’ hammies acted up (again), or whether Licht wanted the offense to hit a new level, we may never know.
But one national NFL analyst is fully stoked about Ebuka joining Baker Mayfield, Bucky Irving, Evans and maybe Godwin, too.
Derrik Klassen, an expatriate of Football Outsiders (RIP), believes the Bucs use of Egbuka will be one of the must-see NFL elements this fall.
“The most exciting part about this team in general is the offense,” Klassen began on a recent edition of “The Athletic Football Show.” And the only really new, exciting thing that [the Bucs] did around the offense was drafting Emeka Egbuka in the first round.
“… from the moment they drafted [Egbuka] and before we knew about, like, how long is Godwin’s timeline going to be like, is Jalen McMillan going to be banged up and all that, before we knew any of that, it was fascinating to me that they decided they wanted to get out ahead of having so many of these older receivers and go out and draft the Emeka Egbuka.
“Maybe, again, maybe it was a contingency plan for those guys. Maybe it was [the Bucs] just wanting to stave off some regression with all the change that they were going to have and just load up on as much receivers talent as possible.”
The Bucs raved about Egbuka after the draft, during underwear football, training camp and through the worthless preseason, and Klassen believes Egbuka will live up to the hype.
“I think he was weirdly universally agreed upon as, like, if any wide receiver just comes in as a rookie and has like, 900 very solid yards, it’s going to be Egbuka,” Klassen said. “I’m very excited to see how that unfolds for him this year.”
If Egbuka really is a next-level receiver, once the Bucs have Jalen McMillan and Godwin back at full strength, this offense could be every bit as explosive as the 2020-2021 offense was with foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, Evans and Godwin.
Let’s play some ball!
#BeatAtlanta
August 26th, 2025 at 7:46 am
Just please, let him get through the year without any major injuries!
August 26th, 2025 at 7:50 am
He’s definitely going to positively contribute to The Baker Mayfield Coaching Tree where we’ll lose our offensive coordinator to another team as a head coach.
August 26th, 2025 at 7:52 am
NOT liking how you said “and maybe Godwin, too” Joe.
August 26th, 2025 at 7:57 am
Tez Johnson could be another rookie receiver who contributes – his route running and burst after catch are impressive.
August 26th, 2025 at 8:09 am
SUPERBOWL
August 26th, 2025 at 8:15 am
A comparison to the Brady led SB team is a bit of a stretch- even at full strength. AB and Gronk were supreme freaks of talent. At full strength this year though, we should be real good.
August 26th, 2025 at 8:25 am
“If Egbuka really is a next-level receiver, once the Bucs have Jalen McMillan and Godwin back at full strength, this offense could be every bit as explosive as the 2020-2021 offense was with foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, Evans and Godwin.”
Different Playbook, different playcaller, and different QB.
Last season for as automatic as some seem to think our offense was, we finished tied 6th in explosive plays(a combo of runs> 15 yards & pass plays > 20 yards) with 46 on offense.
2021 we led the league with 96 explosive plays. Hoping for the best tho lol
August 26th, 2025 at 8:39 am
And no Wirfs for who knows how long. People seem to think we’ll be fine with Heck until Wirfs comes back. I’m not one of them. I believe this is going to cause havoc to this offense. Again I’ll be thrilled to be proven wrong but you take away Tristan, Godwin and JMac from this group I see a major drop off from the 2024 offense.
August 26th, 2025 at 8:41 am
“”At full strength this year though, we should be real good.””
Don’t hold your breath for that happening in Sept and more than likely October too.
August 26th, 2025 at 8:51 am
Curious Warren Brooks Lynch where you get your stats.
I checked Sharpe Football Analytics, so it was not them.
They use any run over 10 yards and any pass over 20 yards so different key for them then the 15/20 you used.
For 2021 — they showed the Bucs with 56 rush and 64 pass — the pass should line up with your source.
For 2020 (super bowl year) — they showed the Bucs with 47 rush and 59 pass.
That Superbowl year they were in the bottom half of explosive plays.
August 26th, 2025 at 9:08 am
Licht is very good at drafting receivers, edge rushers, not so much. Braswell is looking like a swing, and a miss. JTS, so bad, and what a waste of time. Even YaYa has been close, but no cigar. If he doesn’t break out in his third season we’re in trouble. The second round in general has been Licht’s weak spot. This years second rounder has all the talent, but his injury situation is concerning. Moving forward, maybe the Bucs should just trade out of the second round. Maybe they should trade next years for a player now, since we’re a SB contender.
August 26th, 2025 at 9:39 am
Geno,
I use a cocktail of Sharpe, PFF, NFL next gen stats & footballguys(dot.com) has a few data tools to crunch numbers. Receptionperception.dotcom is good as well.
96 is an error on my part it’s 92 in ’21, which in comparison to last seasons’ offense is still about double the explosive play rate. We had 76 explosive pass plays in 2021 which lead the league.
Last season we finished 6th in pass yard per attempt, but 29th in air yards per throw. Some of what takes away from that is our screen game and not pushing the ball downfield with the same frequency as the 2021 team.
Ex. Rachaad White has a -204 yard career yards before catch which means he’s gained a total of 1232 receptions yards over his career, but because of the depth he’s usually catching the ball he has 1436 career yards after the catch. Whites’ been a top-5 target the past 2 seasons.
Didn’t bother to look at 2020 in this case, as the offense was compared to the most efficient offense in BAs 3 years with us and year 2 with Tom Brady.
I gaff from here and there, granted I’m sitting in front of 3 screens with one being just for football while I’m working. Every now and again a stray Bucs take makes its way into the teams chat here at work.
August 26th, 2025 at 10:37 am
Egbuka has looked the part so far. Surprisingly, so has Tez. Next Sunday we should see for sure. Joe likes to bring up players like Kenny Bell as underwear football guys. There is another kind of player I’ve seen as a false hope also. Back in the early 80’s we had a little running back names Michael Morton. He would rack up ridiculous yards in preseason. Come September…he was terrible. We called him Mr. August.
August 26th, 2025 at 10:45 am
He will be fine as long teddy is not the starter
August 26th, 2025 at 11:55 am
When’s Halloween? Egbuka, partnered with ME13 and CG14 at full strength, will be a DC’s nightmare. Let’s see what the future brings. Grizzard, you paying attention? I’m also hoping Tez and Parrish will be Bucs this year.
August 26th, 2025 at 3:45 pm
I have the “Tezmanian fever”. I held off until that last exhibition. His ability to stop and start combined with his great vision just makes him a threat to go all the way at any time.
No he’s not going to run through anybody or “outfight” anybody but he won’t have to!!! When he gets the ball in space (and space for him is ONE freaking step) he’s almost unstoppable short of gang tackling. He’s a threat to take it to the house every play. Dare we dream at least of another “Cheetah like” weapon?
Now what about the “other” targets? Double coverage will be a thing of the past and this explosion of additional talent is going to add to ME’s game as well. He might not get as many targets but he’ll be wider open more often; only needing to beat one guy instead of two.