Ben Solak: Look For Emeka Egbuka To Take A Huge Step Forward
May 19th, 2026
Big season coming?
Ben Solak of ESPN seems to be sending a message to fantasy football types.
(No, the Joe typing here is not into fantasy football. Nothing against it, but Joe’s fantasy has nothing to do with football.)
Solak, after listening to offensive coordinator Zac Robinson compare Emeka Egbuka to Cooper Kupp, thinks Egbuka will get a boatload of targets this season.
And the following may be why former Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard has the word “former” in his title.
Solak thinks Grizzard used Egbuka completely wrong last year and that Robinson will know what to do.
For the sake of the team (injuries), Egbuka was tethered to the line of scrimmage and forced to win one-on-ones. He had 529 routes last season, but he was in motion at the snap on only 29 of them.
That will not happen again in 2026. Robinson, who coached under Sean McVay (and worked with Kupp in Los Angeles), excels at getting his receivers free releases and easy routes by snapping the ball with them in motion. Tutu Atwell holds the NFL Next Gen Stats record with the most routes in motion in a season with 120 in 2023, but 2024 Cooper Kupp is right behind him with 114, and 2024 Darnell Mooney — in Robinson’s first year as the offensive coordinator of the Falcons — had 97.
No, Robinson did not coach Kupp in 2024, but Kupp was still in Los Angeles playing with McVay, Robinson’s mentor. And as Solak pointed out, look what Robinson did with Mooney.
This is one reason why the Bucs are high on Robinson — because he and former Bucs playcaller Liam Coen were cut from the same cloth. Coen believed in sending guys in motion a lot. In fact, Coen explained Bucs trainers changed conditioning programs for Bucs receivers because Coen said he was going to use them so much in motion.
Advanced stats show putting guys in motion helps open up offenses. It’s not, as knothead Byron Leftwich once arrogantly called it, “fantasy football.”
Solak added that folks should not be surprised if Egbuka is one of the more productive receivers this season — thanks to Robinson.
May 19th, 2026 at 7:12 am
This guy is the heir apparent to ME hopefully without the Hamstring issues every time he runs more than 30 yards. The Bucs should be fine on Offense with all the weapons and a Healthy Oline and ‘Born Again’ Baker at the controls. Now that Putrid Pass Defense sure looks like a lot of new faces that only get better on getting off the field on 3rd downs. Go BUCS!!
May 19th, 2026 at 7:20 am
On paper, the Bucs have a lot of weapons. Let’s see if they can make it work when it counts. If the D can improve to the top 15, it should be a good season.
May 19th, 2026 at 7:29 am
I agree.