“One Of The Smartest Receivers We Have Interviewed”
May 2nd, 2025
“I swear, Bryan, this kid could fix the marketing department in his spare time.”
So TheAthletic.com pay-per-view site talked to NFL team personnel executives for anonymous, unfiltered opinions on the Bucs’ draft — and the draft of every other NFC team.
It’s an annual ritual for Pro Football Hall of Fame selector Mike Sando, the former ESPN scribe.
Sando shared mostly positive feedback on the Bucs’ moves, though comments only were delivered on first-round pick Emeka Egbuka, the Ohio State receiver, and cornerback Benjamin Morrison (Round 2) out of Notre Dame.
“They replace (productive) guys as well as anybody,” an exec said. “Chris Godwin is getting near the end. (First-round pick Emeka) Egbuka could replace him in a year. They always have selectively done a good job of looking down the road.”
Egbuka was not the biggest or fastest receiver in this draft. He might not carry the most upside. One exec questioned the selection because of those things. Most saw Egbuka as the safest receiver in the draft.
“If the decision maker did a lot of work on him, you will fall in love with the guy,” one said.
“You know what you are getting: instincts, great hands, good production, loves ball, from a school that has churned out wide receivers recently,” another said.
“Egbuka is probably the most ready-to-play receiver in the class,” a third exec said. “One of the smartest receivers we have interviewed in terms of knowing scheme. Good route runner, good feel, has a chance to be an exceptional slot. Should have a very smooth transition.”
There was more love shared for Egbuka and one executive called Morrison a plug-and-play pick, something that might unsettle Jamel Dean’s many fans.
May 2nd, 2025 at 3:30 pm
Maybe this website could rename itself…
JoeEgbukaFan…dot com.
After round one, pretty much 85% of the content since.
He’s just a receiver. Plenty to cover.
May 2nd, 2025 at 3:32 pm
Why are we still trying to push the idea of the pick of EE as the best move?
Shouldn’t we wait to see the results before we make a judgement?
Or is this just an echo chamber for Polly positive company line propaganda?
I thought the defense was the most glaring need of the team.
To pass on a high quality defender and getting a WR instead was an odd move.
Perhaps the many failures of years past by Licht trying to draft defense came into play.
May 2nd, 2025 at 3:38 pm
I have to agree with ToddBowles#1.
Morrison and Parish might be exactly what we need at CB.
But we have other needs on defense and to use the 19th pick for a WR was nothing short of befuddling.
LB and DE should have been addressed with the first pick.
WR could have been had in the 4th round.
We’ll see how it pans out.
28-27
May 2nd, 2025 at 3:46 pm
Safe isn’t bad with first round picks…..
May 2nd, 2025 at 3:51 pm
Morris and Parish will compete for the nickle spot.
I am so happy we are 5 deep at CB for the first time in Bucs history.
1. Zion
2. Dean
3. Morrison
4. Parish
5. Bryce Hall
6. Funkmaster
7. Josh Hayes
Who else do we have?
Josh Hayes is a good gunner. I hope he can stick as the #7 CB.
May 2nd, 2025 at 3:52 pm
I hope we hunt for a CB to even push Bryce Hall to #6.
Don’t stop looking for corners!
May 2nd, 2025 at 3:54 pm
@ToddBowles#1
I thought the same thing about the draft. I wasn’t much of a fan of it because yeah sure Evans is gonna be getting older & yeah Godwin is recovering from the injury but I thought they could’ve gone WR a little later if anything. I guess they’re satisfied with the D giving up 30 a game. They needed to go D 1st round & yeah sure they took two CBs but Morrison is basically recovering from hip surgery/hip problems (which can be serious) & Parrish is like 5’9. The D has already been dealing with enough injuries so why draft more injured players. Plus the division has some tall TEs & WRs in it & it’s probably gonna be a mismatch for Parrish because he’s so much shorter. Hopefully Walker & Roberts can work out because those were really the only picks I cared for. Sure I want Morrison to turn out good but I just don’t understand what it is with them always wanting to take chances on drafting injured players. They did it with Dean, too!
May 2nd, 2025 at 3:59 pm
@Toddbowles#1
We should, and will have to wait to see the results before we know for sure how wise the pick is….
This is true for the turd hunters who are relentless in their negativity also.
Defense WAS the most glaring need. That’s why we drafted 4 defensive players.
I was surprised by the pick too. But the more I’ve thought about it the more sense it makes.
I’m sure I’d be included in your group of poly positive people who visit JBF.
Lol, I’m the least positivity preaching s.o.b. you’ve ever met – I just CHOOSE to be open-minded and hopeful when it comes to the Bucs and I, along with my fellow “cupcake” and “snowflake” brothers and sisters, have plenty of reasons to believe the team, GM, HC etc know what they’re doing and the future looks bright for the Bucs ✌🏼
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:09 pm
Calm down grasshopper. You’re right, Joe has focused on the first round pick. Yeah, because there’s interest. You really think there are droves of folks wanting content on Elijah Roberts? What else have the Bucs done besides the draft? That’s right, not a damn thing.
Relax, a week from Tuesday the Bucs will trot out some defensive coaches. Until then, most of the stories will be about the drafted players. And yeah, about Egbuka.
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:11 pm
Of course you do 🤣🤣🤣
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:15 pm
To pass on a high quality defender and getting a WR instead was an odd move.
First, the Bucs did not have a 1st round grade on any of the remaining defenders. MAYBE their guy got drafted sooner, maybe not. I think the only LB they liked (at least from comments so far) was Schwesinger, and he went 33rd.
I don’t know their board, but I get the impression that the board, in some ways, did not fall their way, but they still got the guys they were really targeting.
As for Morrison’s injury – it’s not an injury per se, its a congenital birth defect. He had one hip repaired in high school, and came back to earn a scholarship and play very well at ND. So, that bodes well for his recovery this year – and hopefully it will never be an issue again. IF so, we got a STEAL at #53 – he’s definitely a 1st rounder without the surgery.
I trust that they did their homework. The only real remaining hole, assuming AW makes a comeback from his injury, is backup ILB. And they have better guys there now than the did last year.
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:23 pm
TB#1
“Or is this just an echo chamber for Polly positive company line propaganda?”
Are you serious? How long have you been here. There are guys with monikers of Bowlessucks etc. Joe lets opinions flow freely so the “company line propaganda” is totally out of line.
In fact as I’m typing there are two out of the five that are negative.
“Perhaps the many failures of years past by Licht trying to draft defense came into play.”
One could certainly make the case that some of the defensive choices did not work out. Then again one could perhaps point to AW one of the very best safeties in the league. Or Calijah Kancey clearly a standout DL. YaYa shows a lot of promise and of course Braswell has one year under his belt…two more to go before you can really begin to judge him.
Zyon McCollum is an absolute STEAL from the 5th round. I could go on as could you elaborating hits and misses but I do not believe “many failures of years past” is exactly accurate. Perhaps you’re like Joe lamenting the failure to get a superstar edge rusher. Of course along with Kancey Licht selected Vita Vea one of the top NG’s in the league.
As perhaps the leading Polly positive here I do not back up or apologize. I recognize needs and deficiencies. NOBODY knows how the next season will play out or how the draft picks will play. It’s all conjecture. So you have a choice.
You can IMAGINE failure or you can IMAGINE success. NOBODY knows the actual answer so I choose to imagine SUCCESS!
OR…we could both simply look at some actual FACTS!
Licht owns more than two decades of scouting and player personnel experience with six organizations. In 28 NFL seasons, including one as a coach, the clubs that Licht has worked for have amassed a 240-214 (.529) record, 13 playoff appearances, 11 division championships, five conference championships and two Super Bowl titles.
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:26 pm
“Chris Godwin is getting near the end.”
What dope ‘insider’ said that nonsense? As Licht said, and made a big deal about, Godwin signed a 3-year deal, not a 1-year deal.
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:28 pm
You can’t Hoorah and call the offense great for 29.5 points a game and turn around and brow beat the defense that gave up 22.6. Sure they had moments where they had lapses but they didn’t put the ball on the ground in the most important part of the season either.
Plenty of teams had film on Daniels and were unable to keep him from getting critical 1st Downs and extending drives to 15 or more plays.
Commanders averaged 28.5 point per game and in the two games vs the Bucs scored 20 and 23. Defense did its job and enough to get the Bucs into the Playoffs. Defense gave up less than their season average and held the Commanders to 5.5 points below theirs.
Once at the Dance the offense managed 20 points. 17 points fewer than the first Commander’s game of the year when they scored 37. Granted they didn’t have Godwin in the Wild Card game but it was not the reason for a 2 score drop off. Quinn made the right adjustments and the Bucs Offense gave his team a 7 point freebie in the most important time of the season.
Folks look at the fact the D gave up the Drive for the winning FG as the Reason for the loss. Commanders were at the 20 with no time outs and would have needed a TD had the Offense not wilted under the lights.
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:32 pm
Hmm, no one’s hyper. Or…non-relaxed, first.
Second, be an adult, and adult remove all posters from the kiddy play pen holding ground, when some of them including this chap have neither provided objectionable content nor “maliced” intentions toward anything in the slightest. Concocted, play pen.
Third, no one said anything about Roberts. But if I need to, it appears I do, how about off-season calendar dates info along with roster hypothetical projections and subsequent cap room remaining, and actually MORE of a deeper journalistic dive into WHY JL didn’t pursue more of an “all-in” draft approach in 2025 to capitalize on ME13’s and LVD’s final seasons. Asking hard questions. Posing thought-provoking quandaries journalistically out here for the “droves” of folks you say are out here. Like many good NFL journalists do over at that site that covers the entire NFL and has the most traffic on the Internet, ya know, probably by accident right. Run by a bright guy who’s last name starts with an F. That site. Kinda like that.
–The calmest one. 🙂
Joe writes about what interests Joe, and talks about it on the Ira Kaufman Podcast. It works for Joe, it’s not meant to work for anyone else. Thankfully, fans enjoy it and have made this site what it is today. Some even are obsessed. Joe doesn’t strive to be like anyone else. Thank you for your patronage. –Joe
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:33 pm
Draft best player available and not for need unless need lines up with BPA. Jason knows what he’s doing. If Evans or Godwin go down you’ll be glad we have this stallion in our stable. GO BUCS!!
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:42 pm
GoneGator drinks his own pee.
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:43 pm
stpetebucsfan Says:
” NOBODY knows how the next season will play out or how the draft picks will play. It’s all conjecture.”
If it’s all conjecture then why get so bent out of shape when someone has an opposing opinion is yours? Lighten up Francine.
Opinions are like A-Holes, everybody has one.
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:45 pm
So a random executive thinks a player we just signed to a big 3 year contract “may be done after this year”. Oh brother. I think we know why 3/4 of the teams in the league can’t get out of their own way. The lack of logic and knowledge is rife in the nfl.
May 2nd, 2025 at 4:50 pm
LANshark, 100% agree.
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:03 pm
I like him but life after cg & mike is hard to stomach
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:16 pm
Morrison = plug-n-play ???
Maybe Dean or McCollum lose their starting gig sometime in 2025? If he’s a true lockdown, I’m all for it.
Either way… I like the new depth.
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:22 pm
I think Mike Evans could keep stacking 1,000 yard seasons until he is 40
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:23 pm
And I back Joe up…
He’s not writing about Egbuka because he’s hyper focused on him, the stories out there in the ether tend to be about the first round pick more often than other picks. Just bringing the content from out there in NFL media land to us as he finds it.
85% of the time, huh???? Overstating much?
Ancient… having issues with dementia?
…and based on your next two posts… yeah, definitely dementia… or you’re off your meds.
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:23 pm
TB#1
“If it’s all conjecture then why get so bent out of shape when someone has an opposing opinion is yours?”
UH…because I’m a Buc’s fan? Again, if I read your comment correctly you agree that it’s all conjecture.
I’m just mystified when given two choices so called “fans” come up with such negativity.
Especially when it leads to incorrect statements like…”Or is this just an echo chamber for Polly positive company line propaganda?”
That’s simply incorrect factually. So I point that out and it upsets you enough to respond with “Lighten up Francine.’ I apologize for hurting your feefees.
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:28 pm
I bet ME 13 goes at least through 2026. Cause after him, the scheme called and more importantly defended against us, changes quite a bit. For the worse.
(Careful over there)…
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:29 pm
Some of these trolls all sound the same. Can one person come up with three different usernames pretty easily here?
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:30 pm
Those with means, have a lot available to them.
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:36 pm
I can answer that. Yes. You can even watch them talk to themselves. People like ballhawk….75 change their names when they are forced to. Easy to see they write the same thing over and over under every name.
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:43 pm
It’s amazing how people like Ancient can complain about content they’re getting for free. Why take the time to whine? Why not just scroll past? Or, better yet, start your own website that appeals to 100% of the people 100% of the time?
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:44 pm
You’re not going to find a WR in the fourth or fifth round that you can plug and play. You’re not going to find a WR in the fourth or fifth round who can play every position on offense other than the OL. Godwin was first round quality that we lucked up and got in the third round. That’s never happened for the Bucs before, and it’s not likely to ever happen again. We picked EE in the only place we could. He deserved to be a first round pick. If we’re lucky he will have a long and productive career with the Bucs. Next year we should be able to draft offense and defense. We will need clones for Evans and David. A Gronk clone would be great too.
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:51 pm
No sense going over the same ground. Let’s see what this new and improved defense looks like in Q4 of the 2025 season. My guess is not materially better than the last couple of years. Here will be the reasons: 1)miscommunication on the field; 2) referees make bad PI call; 3)Winfield got his money and is no longer hungry. Bucs missed a chance to draft an impact defender. Ebuka is a fine player but he will be targeted at best 6x per game. There are only about 65 offensive plays in a typical NFL game. Bucky is going to see the ball 16x. ME 8x, CG 8x, Otton 5x, McMiilan 6x, White 10x. Point is that Ebuka will be limited in his touches. Top flight defender like Emmanwori would be on field for 90% of defensive plays. Really most discouraged that Lavontae David and ME will play another year with a weak pass defense.
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:52 pm
if licht pulled off what the texans did with the giants, HUGE difference. in the mean time this is my hope. braswell improves, new db’s are as adv. elijah is good enough to help dl. reddick shines, and walker can help at ilb if needed. not to much to ask for.
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:55 pm
KABucs Says:
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:29 pm
Of course they can 👍🏼. The evidence is right here in this thread. The Joe’s could make it harder but it would be a lot of work and a pain in the a$# for them so I don’t fault them.
It’s kind of sad really. 😔
May 2nd, 2025 at 6:28 pm
So ya complain about a dl/lb not picked with the 1st pick, ok who would you have picked? Defense maybe most “glaring need” but not the ONLY need so who do you draft that was available to us at 19? Campbell consensus ILB but injured. recovery unknown to joe football patrons. Walker edge, gone. 2 inside Michigan tackles: gone. Pierce, unknown issues. Barron: slotted for nickel taken behind us and Denver fans screaming over that pick. Most edges, DL, DB’s all taken in 2nd round and later, mostly offensive draft in first round so, again, who do you have rated higher than EE? NOT a one trick/ one year pony, try 3 straight years. Needs addressed later with a lot of experts projecting Morrison as our 1st rounder and EE as a late 1st/2nd rounder.
May 2nd, 2025 at 6:33 pm
I usually don’t get too excited about 7th round picks, but he reminds me a little of Wes Welker. His short area quickness is off the charts.
May 2nd, 2025 at 6:52 pm
Everyone always talks about ‘one of the smartest’ – but who are some of the dumbest? I’d love to hear Ronde asked that question, not that I think he’d answer it, but I’m certain he’d have some names pop in his head immediately.
May 2nd, 2025 at 9:18 pm
Everyone forgets we scored 20 points in the playoff game our defense didn’t get off the field but only surrendered 23 points so yeah I get the receiver pick in the first round
May 2nd, 2025 at 9:58 pm
Seems to me that Joe is trying it get into the mind of the picker for this here pick by writing articles about what the rest of the league thought about Egbuka. I for one enjoy hearing some insight into our #1 pick because I like everyone else was shocked we didn’t take an edge rusher or CB. Licht has earned my trust, he knows wtf he is doing and sitting around bitching about our pick is pointless. I’m optimistic that we made the right decision and drafted another stud WR. Time will tell, till then the freak out ensues.
May 2nd, 2025 at 10:03 pm
TB#1 is a Swiss cheese for brains clone. What a coincidence they posted one right after the other 🤔
Pretty sad indeed
May 3rd, 2025 at 6:04 am
Wow some crazy stuff in here today. Get some help dude.
Go Bucs!
May 3rd, 2025 at 8:42 am
Oh, so some so-called NFL “exec” says CG14 is nearing the end? Is that so? I didn’t read/see/hear anything about his imminent retirement plans. I am absolutely thrilled he’s NOT retiring! Big reason why I’m running my Bucs fan mouth on here during the off-season. And this yahoo works in the League?? As an executive?? Spare me.
May 3rd, 2025 at 10:40 am
@Irishmist,
If you are referring to Tez having a comp in Wes Welker, I agree and thought that when I saw Tez’s highlights. Let’s see if Tez makes the team.
May 3rd, 2025 at 10:59 am
he musta meant evans? weird godwin comment