What a season rookie Emeka Egbuka had last year with 63 catches for 938 yards and 6 touchdowns. He nearly matched the stunning Bucs rookie campaign of the late Mike Williams in 2010.

Williams had 65 catches for 964 yards and 11 touchdowns.

However, Williams was the Bucs’ No. 1 receiver from Day 1 of that stellar season that saw the Bucs shock the NFL and go 10-6 after winning three games in 2009. Williams also finished strong while Egbuka did not.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles talked about Egbuka at the NFC Coaches Breakfast last Monday in Phoenix, where Joe inhaled copious quantities of fruit and scrambled eggs.

“Egbuka having a good offseason, you know his first offseason understanding how the game is played and how long the season is, will help him as well,” Bowles noted.

Nobody at One Buc Palace hides that Egbuka dealt with the dreaded rookie wall. Heck, even Egbuka talked about fighting the grind during his Super Bowl tour.

A year with eager mentors Mike Evans and Chris Godwin should have helped Egbuka learn the game at an elite level, Bowles added. “Mentally, those guys are about as sharp as they come,” he said.

Key will be for Egbuka to build on all his rookie lessons, along with other young players.

“You can’t replace the production Mike [Evans] had on the field, what he did in the community off the field, what Lavonte [David] did on and off the field – the leadership and the presence they’ve shown in the locker room. But they’ve taught these guys how to be professional,” Bowles said.

“They’ve taught these guys how to approach ballgames, and they taught these guys what a pro looks like. So, if guys are taking and grasping that and then growing [on] their own, then I think we’ll get better from that standpoint.”

In many ways, 2026 will be a new era of Bucs football.

Yes, Joe knows the head coach remains, but so much has changed when it comes to the coaching staff and core leadership, along with a load of new faces on defense and special teams.

Perhaps the biggest key to success post-Evans is Egbuka becoming a true No. 1 receiver. Few teams thrive without one.