Chris Simms Expects Emeka Egbuka To “Deliver”
May 25th, 2026
Former Bucs QB has faith.
Yeah, Joe still frets about how the Bucs collapsed after the bye last year. It really has Joe shook.
There are all sorts of targets at whom to point to point a finger. And while Joe is a huge Emeka Egbuka fan, it still worries Joe how he vanished.
Joe is mostly chalking that up to the rookie wall. Ben Solak of ESPN, using NextGen Stats tracking data, believes Egbuka lost his burst when he suffered a hamstring injury and never regained it.
Former Bucs quarterback Chris Simms isn’t worried about Egbuka. Simms believes Egbuka’s dropoff was likely a combination of factors. And Simms absolutely believes Egbuka can pick up where Mike Evans left off.
“Hey, he’s real good,” Simms said on a recent airing of “PFT Live” on NBC Sports Network. “But man, he fell off at the end of the year. Let’s see what happens here now.
“I do think maybe some of the falling off was you got some other receivers back healthy on their football team. I think early in the year with a new offensive coordinator. I think the league was a little bit like, ‘Hey, wait, how are they attacking? How are they playing?’ And then Emeka Egbuka was really like the No. 1 guy and the number one option for the offense there for the early part of the year.
“But I think he is without a doubt the guy we expect to carry the torch from Mike Evans. He can do a little bit of it all. He’s a little bit like that Jaxon Smith-Njigba. I’m not going to say he’s quite as good as that, because I think in Njigba is really a special football player.
“But [Egbuka], he’s got some of those qualities [as JSN], and he’s got that ability to run routes, separate, make sharp cuts, he’s stronger than you think. The speed’s a little deceiving. So yeah, [the Bucs are] going to put more focus on him this year in that offense. And I would expect him to deliver.”
Joe hates to throw former Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard under the bus. But Joe believes Egbuka has a better chance to rebound with Zac Robinson.
And the Bucs have enough weapons around Egbuka (Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan) where defenses won’t be able to double him. Defenses were doing their share of just that after last year’s bye.
May 25th, 2026 at 7:27 am
Egbuka and Njigba are close friends and train together. So I expect to see a lot of similarities between them which means Egbuka is heading for a HUGE career! Hopefully Egbuka stays injury-free this year and we have our starting guards back so Baker has time to throw.
May 25th, 2026 at 7:56 am
“Joe is a huge Emeka Egbuka fan, it still worries Joe how he vanished.” Lt Dan is here to bring peace and comfort to Joe’s soul. EE did not suddenly forget how to play football. By his own admission he had “tired legs” He’ll be back better than ever this year; especially since Mayfield won’t feel it necessary to force feed ME13.
You’re welcome.
May 25th, 2026 at 8:16 am
I know it’s been said over and over, but I really do LOVE this young group of WRs that we have and love that they Have Godwin as their Vet. I had a random thought yesterday about how I don’t want Any of them to play special teams due to injury risk. They are all too valuable. I know that’s not realistic, but it’s a testament to how deep we are at the position. I’m super excited about Hurst (Aka George Pickens/AJ Green) and think that him and Baker can have great Chemistry and quickly. I do believe EE is elite and that his best player comp is JSN. I do believe Godwin has at least 2 Really good years left. I do believe that JMac is Very Good and that people may have forgot just how good he looked (and his Chemistry with baker) and I do believe that if Tez is our 4th or 5th WR, that he is arguably the best 4th or 5th WR in the league. As you can tell, I really really like this group. I’m as big of a Mike Evan’s fan as any, but I fully believe that he recognized that we did not NEED him and that his numbers would’ve reflected that. I’m not mad at him chasing a better opportunity to see more volume with a good team and great coach.
May 25th, 2026 at 8:18 am
JSN had that season because Klimt Kubiak was his OC
May 25th, 2026 at 8:23 am
He’ll be fine. 🙄
May 25th, 2026 at 8:30 am
This is a bad arse receiver group – IF they stay healthy. I’m not concerned about EE at all. With his long season at Ohio State and combine, his legs wore out. He will work with JSN and Godwin to prep for the long season and be fine.
I have a bigger concern about Zach. His offense was wildly inconsistent in ATL and the Falcons players report gave him a “C”. Why?
May 25th, 2026 at 8:35 am
Marvin Harrison, JSN and EE all from the same school, 1st rounders. JSN took a couple years in the league or made the stride his 2nd year, Harrison hasn’t done much but look at the QB and team and EE started hot as a rookie. The 2 that have shined have had a better QB and all around team to support them. It goes to show it is a team sport not a one man show. Don’t know if Harrison has had some injuries.
May 25th, 2026 at 9:35 am
I think EE is going to be excellent. Remember last year was his first. I think to many people are sleeping on JMac. We hear about Godwin coming back full stride, which I believe is true and EE. However, nobody is talking JMac and he maybe the best receiver on this team that is full of good receivers. I say EE and J Mac will be big. I think Hurst is going to surprize all of us and hopefully so
May 25th, 2026 at 9:46 am
Egbuka was doubled, injured and Baker fell off all around the same time. Evans was often not as great as we choose to remember him. Ted Hurst needs to be developed on a fast track.
May 25th, 2026 at 10:27 am
Joe should worry more about his boy Baker. His poor play is what lead to EEs vanishing act, let’s not pretend it wasn’t. Joe should at least mention it as a factor. He’s no Brock Purdy, just ask Evans.
May 25th, 2026 at 10:33 am
Joe is.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:32 pm
This offense is going to be dangerous. In Atl, London was all they had at WR. Mooney had a lot of targets but didn’t do much with them. That should change here.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:43 pm
I think we’re looking at 1300 yards, 100 receptions and 8 tds.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:45 pm
You Baker haters amaze me ,,, Last year you all know Bucs had pretty much an injured offensive line all year ,,, no running game to speak of , no D to speak of and no special teams not to mention Grizzard didn’t know what the heck he was doing. Protect Baker and he will have a 35td/12 int year ,,, A great group of young receivers , 2 good backs ,, 12-5 no worries
May 25th, 2026 at 1:44 pm
The rookie “wall” was playing in an offense that couldn’t find traction on a consistent basis. It’s not like we didn’t try, his target rate went up from the moment Mike got hurt in Detroit up until Evans’ return last season. In that span, EE & Otton were our most targeted receivers, but that doesn’t mean every shot they got was viable whether it be the throw/reception. Egbuka had some bad passes thrown his way, had some ball he could’ve caught, and had some catches he couldn’t hang onto. Defense also did a hell of a job taking him away as an option.
That said, there’s no way he can deliver if the environment he’s playing in offensively isn’t thriving. That’s more important than trying to make it sound like Egbuka can succeed by himself. WRs need to get the ball when and where they can make a play.