Jason Licht: 2025 “Took A Toll” On Emeka Egbuka
June 8th, 2026
How and why did receiver Emeka Egbuka go from spectacular to nothing special during last season, his rookie campaign after Tampa Bay made him a first-round draft pick in 2025?
Most Bucs fans have heard all the possible reasons.
Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht told Ira Kaufman last week that Egbuka was simply asked to do more than what should have been demanded of rookie.
Ira Kaufman: Why did Egbuka’s play fall off after the bye week?
Jason Licht: First of all, rookies coming from championship-type programs that play deep into their season, then barely have enough time to train and come right into the fray here — that has something to do with it. Then people started paying more attention to Emeka and we had the injuries to Chris and Mike (Evans), where we were forced to play Emeka in multiple spots. As smart as he is, and he’s incredibly smart, to ask a rookie to move around like that, play the X, play the Z, it took a toll on him.
Joe doesn’t disagree with Licht, but Joe thinks Egbuka’s issues were much more about his own injury issues, Baker Mayfield’s injuries, offensive line injuries, a case of the dropsies and a weak offensive coordinator.
Joe hasn’t lost faith in Egbuka, but he set a very high bar early last season and that has become the expectation if he’s healthy.
June 8th, 2026 at 3:11 pm
Appeared to me that Baker’s injuries had a significant effect on EE’s play. The injured Oline impacted play calling and success and was also a detriment.
June 8th, 2026 at 3:16 pm
What injuries to Baker? Be specific because he played every game down the stretch. What body part was injured so badly that he could still play? Pathetic excuses for his horrid play. Baker couldn’t get him the ball, when EE would get a step on the DB, Baker would overthrow him.
EE is good but he’s not a #1 WR. Not yet anyway. Will be interesting to see how he’ll be used in this new offense.
June 8th, 2026 at 3:34 pm
The Baker injury excuse is indeed wearing thin.
June 8th, 2026 at 3:42 pm
Baker gave us the best chance to win, but he was injured so we lost. That needs to change. Either we have a backup who is capable of being competitive so Baker can heal, or we are toast as Baker will not be “healthy” late in a season.
Baker needs a handler to sit him on the bench if his health is questionable. We all know Baker will play with a broken leg, and I appreciate his grit, but does us no good.
June 8th, 2026 at 3:44 pm
i don’t understand the worry? The kid was rookie, played half the games as the #1 due to others injuries, at times the only option out there and still came close to putting up 1000 yards. That puts him at about 20th in the league for yards and above some bigger names that people look at as superstars.
He showed he has ‘it’, you don’t forget how to run routes/catch passes in half a season.
to even think about losing faith in that performance is crazy talk.
June 8th, 2026 at 3:45 pm
Bake, from my recollection had a bad shoulder, abdominal issue, and a knee. Doesn’t make for excellent throwing conditions… whether you like it or not injuries like that do affect your abilities.
Ask any of y’alls wives…
June 8th, 2026 at 3:46 pm
EE will be fine. He survived and only comes out of it much better prepared and ready to dominate DBs.
June 8th, 2026 at 3:46 pm
Alvin scissors Harper I’m with you when you right lol sick of the injury excuses
June 8th, 2026 at 3:59 pm
Saying EE isn’t a # 1 WR is just laughable.
The kid was a number one pick, one of the most productive WRs ever at Ohio St, was tearing up the NFL even with injuries to Godwin, Evans and J Mac the first half of the season. Then the entire offense went into a total funk. The injuries caught up to the oline, Baker’s play fell off dramatically and the OC seemed in over his head. Add to the fact, EE was coming off a long season in college, and the rookie wall was a part of his fall off as well as being a banged up himself.
The kid is smart, works hard and is super talented. No season he can’t be a WR 1.
June 8th, 2026 at 4:01 pm
Nobody talks about the wide receiver room after the bye. Blame whatever you want on j juries but in the beginning we had nobody but him to throw the ball to. Evans out. Godwin out. After the bye. People co.e back and he slides down the pecking order. Personally I think he was flat out butt hurt to be the main man so early and then thrown aside after our hall of farmers returned. Dropping the ball was mental for him. I think Evans leaving wasn’t about the money. Or coaching or qb play. I think Evans knew that the room was so crowded that he was no longer the best option. In San Francisco he doesn’t have that competition. If Evans had not come back at all last season I bet meke would have ended with the R.O.T.Y. Nobody wants to really state the obvious because we love Mike. Watch out next year. Baker is gonna bake and a lot of people are going g to get stunned by this group. Hopefully Robinson does a better job here than he did in Atlanta. Its all gonna hang on his shoulders
June 8th, 2026 at 4:03 pm
The Pom Pom squad loves the QB that can’t complete a pass in big moments but demands $65 million a year to be retained.
He wants Josh Allen money but will never each Josh Allen stats or in playoff victories.
Just a high paid loser.
June 8th, 2026 at 4:04 pm
I love how people just casually dismiss an injury let alone multiple injuries to a player as no big deal, especially playing in one of the toughest most violent sports there is. Lets see you go to work on a sprained ankle if you work on your feet after you twist it wrong, SMDH & LMAO. If I remember right he had an oblique injury. Try raising your hand to wash your hair let alone twist to throw a football. Give ma a break.
June 8th, 2026 at 4:08 pm
And yeah I wrote about EE and other players playing a deep college post season schedule, then combine workouts, drafting, then new team meetings, etc. If they start their spring practices their final year in college that’s almost 2 straight years of football transitioning from college to the pros. No wonder they hit a wall. Mentally and physically.
June 8th, 2026 at 4:33 pm
Tired Legs will light it up for 30 catches and 325 yards in 2026. A solid number 4 WR.
June 8th, 2026 at 4:48 pm
When I was a kid, on the local QZoo they made a joke about sending Vinny Testaverde to Iran…. because they wanted to overthrow the Ayatollah.
Where we are, almost 4-decades later, and the answer in the middle east is so easy. Just sent Baker over there, tell him it’s week 15, the 4th quarter, and the playoffs are on the line.
June 8th, 2026 at 4:50 pm
On a different note, there’s an article out there about how Brandon Aiyuk says the 49ers are ‘scared’ to cut him.
He says, and I quote, “Stop running from the bill,” Aiyuk said. “The bill coming. You scared. They scared. Truth is, they scared. They know how I get. They gonna say, ‘Oh yeah, BA, BA, BA did this. BA did that. BA did, you know, that s—, allegedly.”
I was going to say he needs to watch some tape of John Lynch before he talks about anyone being scared. But after reading that, it sounds like Lynch might have already gave him a few concussions already.
June 8th, 2026 at 4:55 pm
He nearly had 1,000 yards. Personally I would have made sure he got those last few yards. That’s on the coaches.
June 8th, 2026 at 5:09 pm
The first half of Jason’s answer can easily apply to Bain Jr. too then
June 8th, 2026 at 5:21 pm
When you on a team with established WRs, you can be overlooked. In the beginning of the season, ME13 was getting doubled. EE was a better option to throw to. Single coverage, he was beating them. Mike went down, EE kept playing at high level and they started doubling him. It might not be that he isn’t open, but the safer choice is to not throw into double coverage. I just think, with the injuries and what not, it was harder for him to get the ball. And with the games having heavier meaning, probably putting extra pressure on himself to make plays. He’s gonna be fine and shine. I would hope that some games it’s EE, some JMAC and others CG14. Sprinkle in some Tez, Cade and the new kid. Pick your poison.
June 8th, 2026 at 5:25 pm
Baker was injured but I think the real problem was that he didn’t have time to set up for middle and long pass plays. The pocket was breaking down and the center and guards were getting killed. Baker had happy feet and Grizzard was doing nothing to help as far as adjusting play calling. I expect EE will be in a better situation this season and will easily get over 1000 yards.
June 8th, 2026 at 5:27 pm
Grizz was a huge mistake
June 8th, 2026 at 5:34 pm
EE came down with a pretty bad case of the dropsies in the 2nd half of the season and his conference went into the tank. And that was in addition to teams focusing their coverage schemes on neutralizing Egbuka.
So, the issues were compounding, but he still could’ve had a great 2nd half without that case of the Dropsies.
June 8th, 2026 at 5:35 pm
*confidence
June 8th, 2026 at 5:38 pm
From beating up on inferior talent, to catching passes from the best QB on the field in a given game, to being schemed open and playing well enough to be 1st round pick.
To having to bend air to catch passes that you used to run into and get YAC for. Running WR sweeps for an amatuer OC, to being force fed by a QB because the OG in the WR room got hurt. All this while transitioning to the NFL talent and speed of the game.
Had to be tough
June 8th, 2026 at 5:43 pm
Buccaneer Bonzai Says:
June 8th, 2026 at 4:55 pm
He nearly had 1,000 yards. Personally I would have made sure he got those last few yards. That’s on the coaches.
———–
e2 was open, the coaches were calling his number, it was Baker who couldn’t get the ball to him.
Seriously, if you have access to ALL22, you’ll see e2, Evans, Godwin, McMillan, Otton, Tez, basically everyone is getting open at the end of the year, in particular in that Miami game – and Baker just flat out misses them over and over again. He finally got a couple of balls to McMillan after the Dolphins went to prevent to save his box score, but Baker was terrible in that 4-game losing streak that cost the Bucs the playoffs, and cost McMillan winning the OROTY.
The only good news was Baker wasn’t as bad in week 18 – and hopefully that game at least carries over. He wasn’t great or anything, but it was easily his best game in the final couple of months of the season.
June 8th, 2026 at 5:49 pm
buc4evr Says:
June 8th, 2026 at 5:25 pm
Baker was injured but I think the real problem was that he didn’t have time to set up for middle and long pass plays. The pocket was breaking down and the center and guards were getting killed. Baker had happy feet and Grizzard was doing nothing to help as far as adjusting play calling. I expect EE will be in a better situation this season and will easily get over 1000 yards.
————
Injured or not, Zac had better be watching the Coen tape from 2024. If he does, he’ll severely limit Baker throwing deep, since Baker excelled in the short passing game, where he was getting the ball out quick, didn’t have time to get happy feet or overthink things. Baker is a very accurate passer under 12 yards or so, once you get past that his, accuracy gets worse very quickly. While you do need to take a few shots to keep defenses honest, Coen showed that Baker can be very productive when you limit what you ask him to do – and likely it helped keep him healthy as well. Said the same thing last offseason when the man from Lot Lizard said he was going to have Baker throwing deep more – that’s a terrible idea. Short, short, keep it short, and Baker will have a much better chance of succeeding.
June 8th, 2026 at 5:50 pm
Bee, so you’re just going to continue to ignore that most of our Oline was hurt a considerable portion of the year. FFS several of the guys we had playing are unemployed (Jordan) or should be (Feeney, Heck, Haggard).
Pff scores:
Feeney: 54.2 (10 starts)
Haggard: 51.8 (played 11 games)
Jordan: 49.7 (11 starts)
Heck: 45.5 (6 starts)
Chukwuma: 62.5 (an undrafted rookie, he gets a pass and held his own).
Essentially, several of the guys who ended up starting a multitude of games in 2025 were outplayed by an undrafted rookie. It’s easy to criticize and blame Mayfield when you leave out the most critical piece of information. No QB in the league has historically done well with a line that porous yet Baker singlehandedly won like 5-6 games. Just admit you understand very little about football and how it is a team sport, where every player on the field has a significant impact on the quality of play.
June 8th, 2026 at 6:05 pm
The Baker haters remind me of the buzzards that fly through the wind currents of the valleys and ridges searching for that one meal of the day to make it through until the next one looks tasty enough to consume. The Baker haters troll Bucs websites looking for one item only, Baker Mayfield. When they spot an article about the one who intensifies their hunger, they swoop in with keyboards a blazing with data and words most common folks keep to themselves. My guess, slow news in the area of pro-football scribes throw these keyboard buzzards a tasty meal from time to time to generate post on websites.
June 8th, 2026 at 6:14 pm
How about how McMillians rookie year and how it affected him? O that’s right… HE EXPLODED UPWARD AND ONWARD collecting touch down after touch down and .. MUCH MORE “in his last 5 games alone in his rookie year” when there WAS NO HELP! He “McMillan”, MANNED UP and was “The Hero” of the 4th quarter of Baker Mayfield and the 2024 offensive season! That’s what I “expected to see” from ebuka last season. It seems that Instead… ebuka got punched in the mouth, played gun shy, and basically Vanished the second half of the season. That’s ALL I KNOW “so far” and THAT DOESN’T qualify as a number #1in my book though I have high hopes his “man balls” drop this year. And now the “cover story” is that Ebuka was injured huh? Never read any “official report” Claiming he was damaged and couldn’t play. Never came out of the game. So can’t BUY anymore Excuses like some are trying hard to sell..
How about Mike Evans? In his rookie year he didn’t wilt either. Who was throwing to him? Was it Simms or some other lack luster QB? He DIDN’T wilt either!
Plus others like Godwin and such WHO DIDN’T VANISH! And I recall some missed and dropped passes to Ebuka in the second half of last season that SHOULD HAVE been hauled in but was sloppy Dropped.. Ebucka has some PROVING to do before I’m claiming he’s got what it takes
It’s a fools errand to make a claim BEFORE it IS a fact! Maybe he hits the ground running and even has Another gear just waiting to surprise this year. We’ll see
Our line up IS Godwin, McMillan,.Ebuka, Tez, Hurst, etc. And we NEED another VET somewhere in The lineup for “experience sake”
June 8th, 2026 at 6:16 pm
EE will be better this year. Will Baker? Oh, he should be ok early. It’s mid season I’m worried about. Is it true Baker is seeking $65M a year? I just now googled it, but the answer is maddingly vague.
June 8th, 2026 at 6:19 pm
Alvin Scissors Harper Says:
June 8th, 2026 at 3:34 pm
The Baker injury excuse is indeed wearing thin.
BINGO
GO BUCS
June 8th, 2026 at 6:28 pm
So the ones whining that Baker was not hurt have probably never played a down of football in which pads and helmets were involved.
There are a lot of nagging injuries that can affect a player without putting him out. Shoulder strains. Oblique strains. Shin splints. Torn cartilage in the ribs. Bone contusions. Plantar fasciitis. Turf toe. Head injuries that don’t rise to being called a concussion.
The guy played without fear and took hits. But that does not matter to the people who hate Baker.
Get a grip.
June 8th, 2026 at 6:30 pm
Grizz didn’t scheme anyone open. No play action, little motion, same plays, and Baker with no time to throw. EE got plenty of targets whether he was open or not. The drops didn’t help and Baker’s accuracy left a lot to be desired also. Perfect storm.
June 8th, 2026 at 6:59 pm
That and he was over drafted
June 8th, 2026 at 7:07 pm
overhyped.
June 8th, 2026 at 7:07 pm
I agree with “Bee Says”…..Baker was out there playing. Stop with the he was just hurt excuses. Was he on the injury report? If he was hurt so bad why was he out there? It’s an excuse to cover up the fact that he was the starting QB for a team that went 2-7 down the stretch and he couldn’t even lead past a surrendering Miami team with Quinn Ewers at QB. Find some consistency in your game Baker and let’s leave the excuses out of the equation please . Enough!
June 8th, 2026 at 7:13 pm
Thanks Rod for telling us about the Niners.
What’s going on with the Giants?
June 8th, 2026 at 7:19 pm
When you have an incompetent Twocoach, poor play comes from good players. Second half of 2025, nobody played well. They played how they were coached and how they practiced. Mike couldn’t stand it anymore and he left.
And, Rod Munch is spot on about Baker. Watch the All 22 as he suggests.
Baker sucked, sucks and will suck as long as he plays for Tood.
June 8th, 2026 at 7:37 pm
Funny watching all the same mouthpieces repeat the same things every day.. Baker had no injuries because no major surgeries were performed and he still played. But they all forgot they said they should have benched him for awhile but couldn’t because they had Bridgewater for the backup.
Nobody wanted Bridgewater on the field.
June 8th, 2026 at 10:21 pm
EE hit the rookie wall last year. He’s a special player who’ll be fresh and better this year.
June 9th, 2026 at 6:23 am
I forget which former QB said this on a podcast about being a rookie and adapting to the longer nfl season vs college schedule.
Believe it was Brock Huard.
As a rookie, recovering from games during the season is adapting. You’re being hit harder, the guys are faster and the game is faster.
Your body isn’t used to the training of a full nfl off-season and you’re used to preparation on Saturdays for 12 games. Not everyone plays 13 let alone 16 to win the title. That’s why rookies seem to hit a wall towards the back half of the year.
June 11th, 2026 at 11:00 pm
2025 took a toll on Buc’s fans.