Emeka Egbuka Is No Michael Clayton
July 27th, 2026
He’ll be fine.
It’s sarcasm, people.
The thing about a good one-liner on the interwebs is it doesn’t come with a sarcasm-asterisk. So Joe is taking the liberty of pointing this out for readers on this one.
Joe’s good friend, NFL humorist/columnist Mike Tanier, has a word of caution for Bucs fans. No, Tanier is not a believer in Tampa Bay this year. He thinks the Bucs ought to be rebuilding and not fooling with retooling.
Then, Tanier on his website Too Deep Zone, with deep sarcasm, had a word of caution for Bucs fans not to get too caught up in rookie success. In other words, Tanier wants to see another good season from Emeka Egbuka before speaking Egbuka’s name in the same sentence as Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase or Puka Nacua.
Florida didn’t sheer off and float into the Gulf of Mexico when Mike Evans left, but it was a close call. Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell give Mayfield dueling all-purpose guys in the backfield. Chris Godwin will represent the old guard, when healthy. If you are pinning your hopes on Emeka Egbuka blossoming into a superstar after his outstanding rookie half-year, I invite you to look up Michael Clayton.
#Sarcasm
Joe gets it: While Egbuka was fabulous before the bye, where was he when the Bucs needed him during the second-half collapse?
Joe thinks Egbuka is one of the Bucs players not to worry about. Egbuka, as Ben Solak of ESPN pointed out, never regained his speed after he suffered a hamstring injury against the 49ers.
And throw in the fact defenses started keying on the rookie, and that his crazy offseason playing in the national title game to the non-stop rookie camps, workouts and combine finally caught up with him.
Joe gets the point from Tanier. Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched. But Joe also believes Egbuka might be the last player to worry about. He’ll be fine.
July 27th, 2026 at 9:04 am
totally agree with your last sentence….he’ll be fine!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
July 27th, 2026 at 9:12 am
Tanier can F off. I invite him to look up JSN. Sure, Egbuka may not be all that, but dredging up a past failure is just uncalled for. It didn’t make him look smart. Just a stupid troll.
July 27th, 2026 at 9:17 am
But M. Clayton was a great blocker and deserved to be over-paid.
At least that’s what our “Rock Star” GM told us at the time…
What a joke.
July 27th, 2026 at 9:18 am
Almost a 1000 yards as a rookie dealing with not only his injury but bakers and the oline he will be just fine. Go bucs.
July 27th, 2026 at 9:23 am
Emeka’s collapse coincidentally coincided with Baker’s collapse at season, 2-7. That’s no coincidence
July 27th, 2026 at 9:28 am
🙂
July 27th, 2026 at 9:34 am
Anyone old enough to remember Alvin Harper’s hamstring issues?
July 27th, 2026 at 9:44 am
Tanier is another ignorant humorist who is popular because he critiques everybody and everything. He is funny but not at all insightful.
July 27th, 2026 at 10:02 am
@ 3.28
I agree.
EE will be fine.
Our WR unit is one of the highest rated on our entire roster (B grade).
Our safeties, O-line and WR units all get a (B grade) IMO.
Our Kicker is solid.
The rest of the roster is a (C grade) or less.
Sorry folks.
I still love you all.
July 27th, 2026 at 10:14 am
Michael Clayton stayed out late all the time, hence the drop off athletically.
July 27th, 2026 at 10:35 am
Clayton actually played strong his entire rookie season. (Sadly it went to his head.)
He made amazing catches all season long….until the last game of the season. He dropped a ball on his hands while being wide ass open deep down field. His last touch of the season was in his head and he never recovered.
July 27th, 2026 at 10:43 am
Tanier’s work combines humor and analytics in differing ratios. When he puts on his analytics hat he comes up with great insights, and he can be damned funny. The camp preview from which this was taken is pretty much entirely written from a humor perspective, and is intended to provoke, like the Defector’s “Why Your Team Sucks” annual feature. The Bucs got dumped, but every other team is getting savaged (except the Eagles, Tanier is a life long fan). Bottom line, it is not meant to be taken very seriously, and it should not be taken seriously.
July 27th, 2026 at 11:07 am
There is not ONE ‘rational person’ comparing EE to Chase or Jefferson, that I have heard. So, I don’t know where HE thinks he’s hearing such nonsense from? Seriously, I don’t believe I’ve heard EVEN the most delusional and biased Bucs Fan ever say THIS before.
July 27th, 2026 at 11:17 am
@ Red
“Clayton actually played strong his entire rookie season. (Sadly it went to his head.)”
Ummmmm.
You are both right and wrong…
Clayton took a humongous hit going over the middle. Got his eggs scrambled real real good.
That fella was never the same after that knock to his fragile skull.
It was a darn shame but he was 6’3″ and weighed @ 205 or so…
So IMO it wasn’t his “over-confidence” that soiled the stew.
It was getting his head bashed in at an earlier age that had the most damaging effects on MC.
July 27th, 2026 at 12:05 pm
Similarly, AB was never the same after the Burfict hit. Definitely scrambled his brain.
July 27th, 2026 at 12:22 pm
EE couldn’t overcome man coverage, but that may have corresponded with his hammy injury
July 27th, 2026 at 12:42 pm
Tanier’s right. The Bucs ought to be rebuilding and not fooling with retooling, and one starts a rebuild with a new coach.
July 27th, 2026 at 1:49 pm
There is a reality to it.
It’s easy dismiss the observation because EE was only a rookie. At this point we don’t know which way the needle is pointing. EE might be a really good, average, or a bust.
The truth is we don’t know.
July 27th, 2026 at 2:18 pm
Yeah because at least Clayton could block.
I worry Egbuka needs unsustainable MVP pinpoint throws into his no separation windows to be more than WR4, which is where he ended the season.
July 27th, 2026 at 5:42 pm
Dude runs a 4.45 when healthy, with the hammy injury he couldn’t do that anymore
July 27th, 2026 at 5:47 pm
Uh… wr4? Doubt that Anone. EE and JMac will be the talk of the town after the first 3 or games. CG will be effective but not the explosive player he once was. When THurst gets going we will have trio of excellent young WRs.
July 27th, 2026 at 6:14 pm
This is the dude who said Licht should be fired and Bucs can’t hang with the big boys like the Seahawks…the same year they beat the Seahawks. I like Mike but his distain for what he doesn’t know (like the Buccaneers outside the Brady era) is hack-worthy.