Solving The Emeka Egbuka Riddle
January 23rd, 2026
What happened?
So, now that the Bucs have new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson on board, he has to solve three riddles to unlock the offense.
* The first riddle is, what the hell happened to Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield? Mayfield was an MVP candidate before the bye. After the bye, he was damn near a candidate for the bench.
Joe hasn’t lost faith in Mayfield. But questions are out there. Was Mayfield too beat up to be effective? Were injuries to the offensive line affecting his play? The near future of the franchise is on hold until these questions are answered.
* The second question is, what the hell happened to Bucky Irving? Joe guesses former offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard wasn’t so great at devising a run game. Still, that doesn’t excuse Bucky from having a worse season than Rachaad White and Sean Tucker.
* And the third question is, what the hell happened to Emeka Egbuka? Before the bye, Egbuka looked like a slam dunk Rookie of the Year winner and seemed to have been the best rookie wide receiver in years.
Then, about the same time Mayfield went downhill, so too did Egbuka. Why? It wasn’t just that Egbuka virtually vanished from the Bucs offense; it was that when he was targeted (not often), he developed a case of the dropsies. Toward the end of the season, Egbuka played like he lost confidence. He finished the season splitting snaps with Jalen McMillan.
Before the bye, Egbuka was red hot. He displayed the same traits as Chris Godwin with a little bit of Amon-Ra St. Brown mixed in.
After the bye, Egbuka looked more like Sterling Shepard.
What happened? Because when Egbuka was playing fast and loose, the Bucs offense was humming. When he fell off the map, so did the offense.
Getting him back on track will go a long way towards the Bucs returning to the playoffs and Mayfield being a top-shelf quarterback again.
January 23rd, 2026 at 12:05 am
‘now that the Bucs have new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson’
Sure is WAY MORE negative things going around and out there about this new OC and very little if any positive…. seems like a desperate hire on both parties!
January 23rd, 2026 at 12:15 am
Robinson is actually a great hire and we will all see this by the end of the year
January 23rd, 2026 at 12:21 am
Tye, what negative things are you talking about? Anyone else please feel free to chime in too.
January 23rd, 2026 at 12:50 am
Simple. Jmac, Chris, and Mike. Too many choices. Same reason tez fell off the map. Target preference. Baker , despite his drop off, will be extended. Unless, he declines, and goes to reunite with mcvay after Stafford retires after next year.
January 23rd, 2026 at 1:07 am
emigma begbooka………or whatever gronk said…
enigma my smegma……..yeah i think that’s it…!
see what i did…hell yeah lol 🙂
January 23rd, 2026 at 1:48 am
Baker was hurt in multiple ways and it affected his game in so many ways, unable to throw deep and had a loss of accuracy. The middle oi the OL also affected Mayfield, guy was scrambling for his life. The 2 guards were practice squad material but how about Barton? He certainly regressed from his rookie year. As for Irving, that could be a problem. The Bucs basically annointed Irving as there 1A RB and thus alienated Raschaad White who is probably going to end up with Canales and mop up on screens to the flat while boat racing Anthony Nelson….. Does Irving have the yips? Dude is not the same guy since that injury. I am guessing Zac will want to bring in Tyler Allgeier to replace White in the roation and Tucker could bolt too. No injuries alone should make the O more productive but one has to hope that Zac is an upgraade over Grizz. That Saint player Koolaid McKinstry summed up Grizz’ offense well; he said the Aints knew how every play the Bucs called would be run; very predictable and vanilla; kind of like Bowles.
January 23rd, 2026 at 1:49 am
For the love God, dont let him be Michael Clayton all over again.
January 23rd, 2026 at 2:20 am
I’m still angry – I can’t believe we have to put up with Bowles for more seasons – yes the Special teams were the worst unit, by a hair, but next was the defense, NOT THE OFFENSE! Bowles defensive scheme doesn’t work! Blitzing the whole team leaves wide open gaps in coverage. At the very least we should be hiring a DC as well. We will see how I feel come September, but I’m NOT watching a repeat of last year.
January 23rd, 2026 at 3:44 am
No, the special teams were the worst I have ever seen in my 56 years of actually watching NFL football by a mile and a half. The defense was merely a bunch of stupid, over-paid, but mostly lazy welfare cases. They were coached by a man who should be serving soup at the Sisters of the Blind homeless shelter, but those special teams were truly “special.”. Mind you…kickoffs aren’t exactly what they used to be.
That out of the way, I definitely agree with Joe that this was a totally different team after the bye. That’s the primary reason for my anger. What the heck happened? Sometimes Joe knows thing that he can’t say, but I don’t think that’s the case tonight. This team simply quit. Why? I could see a few losses, but I do not understand why an entire team simply gives up and starts planning for the off season. They weren’t motivated to do anything but cash a check.
January 23rd, 2026 at 4:07 am
“That Saint player Koolaid McKinstry summed up Grizz’ offense well; he said the Aints knew how every play the Bucs called would be run; very predictable and vanilla; kind of like Bowles.”
Wow, he said that!? Interesting. I had been noticing it for several games going into that (first) NO game, and I ‘called it.’ Then, right after that game I posted about it on here in-depth, since I made it a point to really zero-in on it during that particular game. The “BIG TELL” was Otten, & not only did they know WHEN it was a “RUN,” but they also KNEW WHERE it was going EVERY TIME, & with 💯 CERTAINTY. I raised the question after the game and after EXPOSING THIS, that if “I” KNEW THIS, then you KNOW for sure that THEY DID TOO. It was just soooo obvious.
January 23rd, 2026 at 4:23 am
Not only did they NOT pass-it EVERY single-time, but it was EVERY single-time they ran the ball. And, to the exact spot behind where Otten would hover over after going in-motion. They tried changing it up a little after the Bye, but it still wasn’t great. It was just like a bad poker player, or when a Pitcher is caught ‘tipping’ his pitches. It was very egregious.
January 23rd, 2026 at 4:35 am
It’s pretty simple. Early on Baker could fit it into any tight window. Egbuka wasn’t getting separation, but he was at least reliably in the right spot (unlike several other WRs) and showed good hands.
Baker cooled off with injury and so did Egbuka’s hands. If he’s not separating, has bad hands, and doesn’t block, there’s not really a reason for him to be on the field annd targeted ahead of Evans/Godwin/JMac and so on.
January 23rd, 2026 at 4:36 am
@Please fire Bowles,
You wrote that “Bowles defensive scheme doesn’t work”. After watching Ronde Barber’s show recently, I would partially disagree with you. He made the point that Bowles defense worked to beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, holding them to ZERO TDs.
Barber was highly critical of Bowles defense, not because it doesn’t work, but rather because it is complicated, requires elite coaching, and we’re not getting that right now.
We don’t have the same personnel on defense now that won the Superbowl. We’ve got some young guys, especially in the secondary. Too much is being asked of them.
I would add to Barber’s criticism that Bowles was the DC, not the HC the season they beat the Chiefs, so he was able to focus on his job as the DC. Once he became HC, there is no way he could give all his time and attention to the defense as he did before.
January 23rd, 2026 at 4:41 am
As for what happened to Bucky? Nothing. He was a product of the space in Coen’s run scheme. Without it he’s a small and slow guy with a chronic toe injury.
January 23rd, 2026 at 5:11 am
Enjoyed the discussion about this on Ira’s last podcast too. What did happen? Buka was going to be MVP, as well as Baker too. And then after the bye, things looked worse. Yes injuries and mental health too go hand-in-hand.
I am really thinking now that Zac could be a great piece of solving this puzzle along with others he brings with him. We don’t want our great upcoming players getting bored and wanting to leave either.
January 23rd, 2026 at 5:40 am
Nailed it Joe! All of what you wrote matches my thoughts. The O line was a mess and I will give all the players mentioned a pass purely based on that. However all have alot to prove this season.
Grizz was not what we had hoped for at all. Gotta find some way to keep OCs that help us win.
Goodell? How about a rule that actually helps sir. I don’t think TV money or attracting casual fans with money has much to do with it so I don’t think he will make any effort. Only seems that he cares about 20 games a year and ruining careers in the process while “saying” it’s all about player safety. Flag football…
Now the defense…
Go Bucs!
January 23rd, 2026 at 6:09 am
I think the injury really messed with Bucky’s mind. According to him, he’d never been injured before. He might have been running more carefully when he got back, worried that he would get injured again.
January 23rd, 2026 at 6:10 am
Wrote this a few times. Egbuka played scared. His arms got shorter and he was looking for the hits. No knock on him. He saw other Bucs receivers getting lit up and injured. The cause was Baker’s inaccuracy. Almost every pass was highlight reel worthy.
January 23rd, 2026 at 6:29 am
Does anyone believe we can get 12 wins next year?
January 23rd, 2026 at 6:50 am
Baker happen, Baker sucked the last half of the season. He was wide ass open many times and Baker missed him.
January 23rd, 2026 at 6:59 am
After EE pulled his hammy he wasn’t the same dude…
January 23rd, 2026 at 7:27 am
baker just couldn’t get him the ball….
January 23rd, 2026 at 7:44 am
Some investigative snooping might solve the riddle of the bye week. The Bucs were a different team as well all know. Yet, there was/is silence about it. Perhaps RW might spill the beans about it since he is no longer a Buc. For this reason alone, TB should be fired. He didn’t address or fix the internal issue, nor did JL step in. It seemed this ship was adrift, and maybe still is. Interesting that the local media is silent as well. Where is the Big Dog when you need him?
January 23rd, 2026 at 7:49 am
Emeka should have been ROY… and over 1K yards, DESPICABLE!! QB & HC and OC failed Emeka…..
January 23rd, 2026 at 7:55 am
We SAY the Bucs have a great OL. Not so fast. Barton has been a serious disappointment, especially for the draft capital spent on him. And the idea of moving him to guard — he was blown up at Center so who expects him to be better at a more physical position?
RB — Bucky is just not built to be a bellcow. Change of pace, sure. But he didn’t age well in his second year after all the DCs had a season to scheme. And look for White to do well for himself. He can be an average runner, a plus blocker, and an excellent pass catcher. There has to be some role for that set of talents in a competent offense.
As to receivers, let’s be real: the Bucs have tried a group of gimmick systems. A good TE is a QBs best friend. We have schlept by since Gronk. Baker needs a safety blanket — even the great QBs do. If not White then we had better upgrade TE.
Joe seems sad about the rise of JMac. He showed plenty of potential his first year and got better in his second. EE started with a strut — and with no competition for the spot — but hit the rookie skids. And we have all seen how Godwin comes back strong the second year after injury — he wasn’t right and couldn’t show off his talents this last season.
So it comes down to Licht and Baker. We need a strong FA move and a strong draft class. And then if the franchise QB shows up the Bucs have a shot. But we’ve spent too many years cheerleading the front office, one we can now see has produced mediocre results, if that. Jason Fever is a sickness, not a fad. Time to hold everyone — not just Bowles but Licht, Mayfield and the supporting cast — to account.
January 23rd, 2026 at 8:10 am
Crazyhorse54, Bingo. Didn’t have the opportunity to read the “Big Dog”. But following this Bucs team through every available avenue these last 3 years I know that JBF will be in the lead representing any news that’s news regarding this team. And that makes me think that the riddle you refer to is a layered, nuanced riddle. Parts of it have surely been reported by Ira and the Joes, but it sure seems like we’re having a hard time finding the straw that broke the camel’s back. As I said. It’s nuanced.
January 23rd, 2026 at 8:12 am
Riddle? There’s no mystery, Buc fans just have a problem being honest with themselves about this team.
January 23rd, 2026 at 8:25 am
Injuries at both guard positions had a lot to do with the drop off and other team knowing they could exploit it think it effected barton too.
January 23rd, 2026 at 8:41 am
Why the constant questions about the offense Joe? It was INJURIES. INJURIES. INJURIES. This unit was devastated between the OL losses, Evans out 1/2 the year, getting OLs off the street. McMillian injury.
No backup QB. Of course Baker was hurt what, at least the final 8 games and trying to play through multiple injuries?
Love Godwin but when he played was a shell of his former self. I’m 58 and can run better than him.
Who knows what the heck happened with Bucky. That is a riddle.
It didnt help that Bucs had a new OC that lacked experienced and coached under Bowles. Griz had no chance and was one of the scapegoats.
It was the perfect storm for a bad offensive year. It was the perfect storm for Bowles to do what supposedly he knows best – coach up the defense to rescue this team. But he failed. The defense failed. The special teams was an epic failure that cost us games (Eagles, Bills). Bucs got lucky against the lowly Jets. Remember the end to that one?
The worst part about this season was players quit. It was so evident. They flat out played like they rather be somewhere else. They didn’t listen and played like they didn’t care. Bowles cited players were bored… Bowles cited communication errors… Bowles cited missed assignments. It was EXCUSE, after EXCUSE after EXCUSE. Poor coverage. Cant tackle. Some many explosives. No pressure.
This season’s disaster is all on Bowles and Licht. How they get a pass is beyond me.
January 23rd, 2026 at 8:41 am
Mike will get at least 1k again. Mek and McMillan will have good years. Provided Baker can orotect his body and little more. Maybe Zac will make that happen.
January 23rd, 2026 at 9:12 am
Baker couldn’t accurately throw him the ball. This isn’t hard to figure out. He would have had 1200+ yards if Baker was more accurate. I don’t but the too many weapons excuse either. In 2021 Brady had Mike, Chris, Gronk, and AB all producing good numbers. You’re telling me now we can’t do it with Mike, Chris, Egbuka, and JMac? BS
January 23rd, 2026 at 9:43 am
I want to see a young offense plus old vet Godwin. Evans had a great run, but it’s time for McMillan, Egbuka, Tez, a young stud TE (draft or Kyle Pitts), Bucky and Tucker. Add in Godwin. Look at that list of skill guys – if you can’t score 30 with that lineup, your QB or your OC suck and probably both. I also think a San Francisco style fullback would be a huge plus and add some versatility to the O – while reminding falls of Alstott’s heyday (though he was never really a fullback).
January 23rd, 2026 at 9:44 am
Fans*
January 23rd, 2026 at 10:07 am
He’s not gonna get OROTY because they stopped using him.
January 23rd, 2026 at 10:16 am
I don’t see any riddles at all:
🏈 Baker Mayfield. The injury riddled offensive line was mostly backups, resulting in mutliple injuries to Baker. His left shoulder. His ribs. His right (throwing) arm. With Teddy as backup, the team did not feel they could sit him and give him tim to heal…so the healing process was slowed. Add the defense being unable to stop the other team from scoring, and Baker was forced to take unnecessary risks.
🏈 Bucky Irving. He suffered his first major injury of his career. While stuck on his couch, he was helpless. Then when he cam back, he was gunshy, afraid of getting injured again and not being able to help his team. He’ll be past it before the new season starts, and you can bet he’ll find ways to make himself more resistant to injury.
🏈 Emeka Egbuka. Simple. He hit a rookie wall at a moment when the rest of the team was reeling from their own issues. Evans was injured, so wasn’t there to mentor him. I do wish he would have gotten the few yards he needed to break 1000 though. As for as the droppsies, Mike WEvans went through the same thing in his second year. He’ll be able to help EE through it.
January 23rd, 2026 at 10:19 am
The tale of two Buccaneers. The champion Bucs vs the bye week losing Bucs. Obviously injuries turned into the losing Bucs.
The Bucs were playing without half their starters but when Mayfield injured his shoulder and knee the Bucs tumbled off the mountain.
What happened last year is behind us. The off season is time to heal, regroup and make needed changes in coaches and player personal.
Put all these factors together and the Bucs will be one of the better teams in the NFL. So let’s relax and see what happens and enjoy 😉 our Bucs.
January 23rd, 2026 at 10:23 am
It wasn’t that Egbuka wasn’t getting used, he was getting targets, but he was dropping passes at key points. Then JMac really was outplaying him once he got back. Once all the WRs were back, the targets expectedly came down. Mike and Mac came on strong and CG14 started looking like himself. Egbuka needed to take advantage of the opportunities he had and was a bad time to get the dropsies…
January 23rd, 2026 at 10:51 am
I think they over loaded him he was playing 3 different positions at times The X,Y, an Z I think he had to much on his plate you could see it near the end of season he was Dropping passes he would never drop easy TDs an 1st downs he was in his head trying to do to much because they put so much on him I bet he has a Huge 2nd year with everyone Coming back I think they will use Evans on strictly passing downs next year if he’s back to keep him fresh an Bucs has an elite WRs Room Evans Godwin Egbuka McMillan an Tez like Wow Bucs Rookies had 11 TDs last year Tea will only get better as will Emeka this year Elite To room
January 23rd, 2026 at 11:23 am
“And the third question is, what the hell happened to Emeka Egbuka?”
Bowles happened. Riddle solved.
Turtle Todd decided to do things his way instead of the way it worked before the bye.
The epic collapse should have brought an end to his reign of ineptitude.
But they Glazer kids are smitten. 3rd and 28.
January 23rd, 2026 at 1:38 pm
Baker needs to develop into the best point guard out there. There’s so many weapons on this offense and only 1 rock to go around.
January 23rd, 2026 at 1:38 pm
playoffs?! playoffs!! 5-12
January 23rd, 2026 at 1:40 pm
Ronde what are you talking about ? Bowles stays out of the offense. Hes got enough on his plate with that sieve of a defense. Get a grip dude not everything is Bowles fault. A lot is but the offense ain’t one.
January 23rd, 2026 at 3:16 pm
#1bucsfan
Save your breath bro, you’re talking to people without willingness or capacity to understand 😂
813bucboi
Embarrassed for you man – I hope you and your new best friends have fun and get the attention your little pea picking hearts desire. Your flip flopping is weak.
#Lets go Bucs 🏈
January 23rd, 2026 at 3:21 pm
i’ll tell you what happened after the bye. first things first. wirfts screwed this oline up. he should’ve had the knee issue fixed prior to season start. because of him and whomever else was involved, the oline was out of postion. bredeson, mauch goedeke, all hurt because of position switches. also affectected barton’s play. and when wirfts came back – he SUCKED every game he played. mayfield was under pressure from left, right, up the middle almost every play. took unnecessary hits, forced to throw to soon – WATCH THE TAPES. the loss to the patriots killed this team. those 3 td’s of 55 yards or more broke their spirit. and that’s the answer. bowles has to go. he’s too dumb. and that’s the solution.
January 23rd, 2026 at 5:43 pm
cash a check mcneil exactly something happened during the bye time off lockeroom ? bowles ? i have never seen a suppose head coach point as many lame fingers at everybody but himself i would gave fired my self after that bye broke buds heart
January 23rd, 2026 at 5:43 pm
have
January 23rd, 2026 at 7:11 pm
Just go watch the first drive of that Rams game, and that tells you everything. e2 is wide open deep for an easy walk in TD and Baker misses him by a mile, I don’t even think the ball was in the field of play and Baker had no pressure on him.
That’s what happened.
If Baker is better, e2 will look a lot better.
As for Bucky – nothing is wrong with him – just watch the tape instead of looking at the stats. Show me where Bucky looked slow, or was missing holes, or doing something wrong. He wasn’t. The issue was the stupid play calling. 1st down up the gut. Super predictable. Also Bucky wasn’t being used outside – instead Tucker was being brought in to run outside, which was dumb. That meant Bucky was getting all the tough low-average carries, while not getting the other carries where he would have a lot more space to make plays. Use motion, misdirection and play action and Bucky will look great again.
January 23rd, 2026 at 7:13 pm
By midseason, there wasn’t a single NFL-caliber guard left on the roster. This made any of the longer passes impossible since Baker had DT’s in his lap instantly on every single play. He couldn’t step into a pass or even see any open receivers with the pocket crumbling that rapidly. It hurt everyone’s stats but especially receivers that tended to get open deeper like Egbuka. That’s why we threw so many screens. And rollouts were still somewhat successful…
This is also why Irving had terrible stats. He was getting hit instantly after handoff. He needs space to operate his shifty moves. Couldn’t break instant tackles.
January 23rd, 2026 at 7:28 pm
McMillan is better that the 3rd best receiver from Ohio State 2023 team. Egbuka was overhyped from day one.
January 23rd, 2026 at 7:29 pm
*2024 team
January 23rd, 2026 at 10:19 pm
The real mystery is what does Bowles do to his players during the bye. Each season they have come out of the bye flat and I think it’s when our mid-season slump has happened each season. Whatever they are doing needs to be scrapped.
January 24th, 2026 at 8:45 am
“Also Bucky wasn’t being used outside – instead Tucker was being brought in to run outside, which was dump”
There was an outside run in that eagles game, might’ve been a sweep where before Bucky could get to the corner the pursuit backer & CB were just waiting for him to get there.
Tucker can turn that corner, because he’s faster.
January 24th, 2026 at 1:42 pm
Ward Says:
January 23rd, 2026 at 1:49 am
For the love God, dont let him be Michael Clayton all over again.
——————————
He’s not. When did you show up here? Michael Clayton played during the Chucky Egomaniac years. He was up for OROTY (didn’t get it). Gruden got a hair up his rear against this guy. Clayton was brutally and illegally injured by a Detroit DB in his second year, and was out for the season. He never returned to his rookie form. Mr. Ego got rid of him. So, do your research. Clayton was no loser.
January 24th, 2026 at 8:44 pm
Egbuka hit the rookie wall. He’s going to be special. He moves like a running back. Soooo smooth and natural for him. I can’t remember anyone in recent memory that mives through route transitions as smooth as he does. Special Kid.