Steve Smith: Special Emeka Egbuka Season Needs Perspective
February 16th, 2026
Emeka Egbuka is broken down by receiving great.
The eighth-leading receiver in NFL history with (14,731 yards) wasn’t a Pro Fooball Hall of Fame finalist this year.
Mike Evans fans might not like hearing that about former Panthers and Ravens star Steve Smith.
These days, Smith is a busy man in NFL media and in his study of receivers on his 89 With Steve Smith podcast.
Last week, Smith took a deep dive on Bucs receiver Emeka Egbuka.
Smith said he’s done a lot of homework on Egbuka including last season in Tampa and before the 2025 deraft.
“Emeka Egbuka brought from Ohio State University is he is a quarterback-friendly route runner. That was who he was; that’s who he is. I’ve talked to several people down there … ” Smith said.
Smith called Egubka a guy who acts like a “savvy vet” and he explained, “meaning he is seen, rarely heard. He goes about his business the right way. He’s early in, late out. He is going through his routes. He walks through his routes.”
Interestingly, Smith compared Egbuka to Panthers Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly. Smith said Kuechly grilling him on keys to success during their Day 1 meeting in the Panthers’ locker room. He said Egbuka, he’s been told, is the same kind of guy that’s always hungry to “become special.”
Yes, Egubka’s play fell off in the second half of the season, but Smith chalked that up to adjustments, changes in role and drops that he’s not worried about.
In fact, Smith says the film shows Egbuka showed stunning coordination and football eyes, among other traints, “creating free access, goes up and high points the fooball, goes up in traffic, does a lot of great things you’d expect a veteran would be doing.”
Bucs fans should be confident Egbuka will be a special player in 2026, he said.
“Yes, he’s had some drops, but you also look at some of the catches he’s had, some of the hits he’s taken and held on to the football. So, there is a little bit of give and take and understanding that there is sometimes a reason why, and I don’t really look at his drops as a huge concern for me,” Smith said.
“Just watching his body of work and how he’s doing it as a rookie, I just see so much tremendous upside that, you know, what’s transpired for this season, it’s gone. But I expect for him to keep going and if it he’s averaging 8 or 9 drops every year, then yes. But I just don’t see him having those drops” next season.
February 16th, 2026 at 10:55 am
When you are physically and mentally tired there becomes a lack of concentration. To me this equated to drops and wrong routes being run. I’m a firm believer that he will have his body ready for at least 17 games for the 2026 season.
February 16th, 2026 at 11:02 am
“Sometimes people don’t like to acknowledge that someone’s ability to do something, especially for wide receivers; is predicated on the guy who’s pulling the trigger will actually pull it or not”
-Steve Smith
“It wasn’t like Emeka Egbuka took a giant step back in the back half of the year. The offense, took a step back in the back half of the year and he’s apart of that offense”
-James Palmer
these two sure did Gregory Hines their way around calling out the QB play.
February 16th, 2026 at 11:14 am
ME13 averages a bit less than 5 drops a season for his career and he is a First Ballot HOF’er , so 6 or so drops a year is not that bad.
Kudos to ME13 for turning down the 12 Million endorsement deal fron the real estate conglomerate due to their gentrification issues.
February 16th, 2026 at 11:17 am
It’s always the QB’s fault…Got it. (SMH)
Bucs Offensive line play in 2025 – specifically OG play on defensive Blitz packages – had Baker under duress at a higher rate than in 2024.
For anyone that has never played the position, I can tell you that it’s significantly more difficult to be pin point accurate when the pocket is collapsing around you.
People seem to forget that Baker was also able to wiggle his way out of some of that constant pressure & convert many 1st downs with his legs or scramble drill completions. Even though he made some plays to compensate for his OL, it doesn’t change the fact that he was under duress quite often due to poor OL play.
February 16th, 2026 at 11:27 am
“Bucs Offensive line play in 2025 – specifically OG play on defensive Blitz packages – had Baker under duress at a higher rate than in 2024.”
2 healthy guards aren’t going to make him more accurate, our OL was healthy in 2024, we still hit a lull when we lost Mike & Chris and only won 2 more games than we did a year later.
It’s a tired attempt at diverting any criticism away from holding every player on offense accountable for their performance or lack thereof.
Healthy OGs aren’t going to boost fix completing 54% of your last 349 pass atts over 11 games in a 17 game season.
Lies are only confused with the truth, when people believe them.
February 16th, 2026 at 11:31 am
I think his hamstring injury had as much to do with his drop off as the rookie wall. He just never looked like himself after the injury. Mainly the quickness and burst coming out of cuts.
February 16th, 2026 at 11:56 am
EE and Baker Mayfield were both headed for pro-bowl seasons. Then our WRs got hurt, EE got doubled, the OL fell apart and the opposing DL lived in our backfield. How one can load up on either EE or Mayfield for what happened. How about the Licht/Bowles inability to have decent backups for the OL!
February 16th, 2026 at 12:02 pm
Healthy guards along with a healthy Quarterback would have made a big difference down the stretch. In this case the injuries on the line impacted the health of the quarterback and his effectiveness. The proof of that was clear in the first half of the season. Excellent Quarterback play against exceptional defenses despite the oline and receiver injuries but with a healthy quarterback. 5-1 record with victories over the Falcons, Texans, Seahawks and 49ers. What more evidence do you need?
February 16th, 2026 at 12:22 pm
Oscar Says:
February 16th, 2026 at 12:02 pm
Healthy guards along with a healthy Quarterback would have made a big difference down the stretch.
==============================
You aren’t going to convince WarrenBrookLoser and his girlfriend, RodMunch, of anything regarding Mayfield other than Mayfield stinks and Shedeur Sanders should be Bucs QB. Ironic considering that in Mayfield’s time with Tampa he has thrown for the second highest total of TD’s in the NFL over the last 3 years. Biggest problem with MunchBunch is they aren’t very bright.
February 16th, 2026 at 12:23 pm
“Biggest problem with MunchBunch is they aren’t very bright”
I know half of 17 isn’t 6
February 16th, 2026 at 12:24 pm
With all the injuries on offense it was impossible to have any consistency. The only thing consistent about the 2025 season for the Bucs is that the defense and special teams as a whole were consistently bad all season!
February 16th, 2026 at 12:57 pm
Warren, you are totally disregarding the fact that Baker was the most accurate & effective QB in the NFL in 2024 when pressured/against the blitz – greatly in part to better OL play…While also leading the leagues QB’s in 2025 in 1st downs per rush & 3rd down conversion rate when he scrambled. (Which he had to do quite often due to a breakdown in protection)
IE…It’s not just about the QB…There’s 11 guys on the O that need to be working together to be successful.