So Who Was The Bucs’ Best Rookie, Emeka Egbuka Or Jacob Parrish?
January 27th, 2026
Steady and solid.
Joe guesses when you first read the headline above, you may have been outraged.
How could anyone suggest a first-round draft pick may not have been the best Bucs rookie? Or that a third-round pick might be better than a first-round pick.
For the first half of the 2025 season, Joe would have totally agreed; Emeka Egbuka was tearing up the league. He looked like a sure bet to win “Offensive Rookie of the Year.”
But a funny thing happened before Egbuka walked the red carpet in San Francisco at the NFL Honors gala and ceremony. He vanished.
In the first game after the bye, a loss against the Patriots, Egbuka had 115 yards receiving and a touchdown. After that game, Egbuka never had more than 64 yards receiving in a game.
What happened? It’s a mystery.
Jenna Laine of ESPN noted, that while Egbuka may have made the biggest splash as a rookie, third-round draft pick Jacob Parrish became a solid defender as a nickel corner.
Despite his 5-foot-10 stature, cornerback Jacob Parrish could become a good pro cornerback. He played both nickelback and outside corner because of injuries and finished the season with two interceptions and a fumble recovery, with the pick happening in their must-win Week 18 victory over the Carolina Panthers. Coach Todd Bowles believes he’s the fastest guy on the team and you can see that when he blitzes.
Joe can argue that Parrish was the best rookie. This is not a blast at Egbuka. But it was sort of like the tortoise and the hare with Egbuka and Parrish.
Egbuka was stunning in the first half of the season and maybe he hit a brick wall or he was hiding an injury; he fell off the map after the loss to the Patriots.
Parrish? He was solid and steady all year long, and as Laine points out, he made plays in big games, including the final game of the season when the Bucs frantically tried to stay eligible for a playoff berth.
January 27th, 2026 at 9:10 am
Ebuka had drops and his targets dropped, one could say when bake fell off Egbuka fell off
January 27th, 2026 at 9:15 am
Parrish was probably the best rookie and maybe the best defender. Meka had 9 drops this year while Tez only had 2 drops.
January 27th, 2026 at 9:32 am
Two completely different positions so somewhat difficult to determine..
Parish as a 3rd round pick was definitely the best value.
One could argue that as a 7th round pick Tez was the best value….and perhaps will be going forward.
January 27th, 2026 at 9:33 am
Parrish was more consistent, so he gets the edge. Both were good picks and will help carry the torch.
January 27th, 2026 at 9:40 am
The number of injuries was too overwhelming for the Bucs. At times upwards of two thirds of starters could not play. That destroys any continuity on a team. Specialty teams costs the Bucs games. This and other contributing factors doomed 2025.
2026 is a new season. 2025 is over. Time to move on..
January 27th, 2026 at 9:40 am
Parrish was more consistent game to game, but part of that is because his job doesn’t hinge mostly or entirely on someone else’s job the way Egbukas does.
Parrish can line up, and make a play on any down he’s active at CB.
Egbuka has to line up, be apart of a play and still has to actually get the ball to let his talent take over.
EE2 was one of our more targeted players on mid-deeper passing routes in certain concepts. Had some drops, had some passes sail on him, and opposing teams top CBs for a stretch.
Our catchable ball success rates(accuracy) from 2026:
At/Behind the LOS – 99%
0-9 yards – 86.8%
10-19 yards – 66.4%
+20 yards- 42.4%
I think we’ve got 2 ball players in Parrish & EE. I’d also bet both of’em hit their first off seasons as pros hard in effort to come back better this year
January 27th, 2026 at 9:40 am
I almost forgot who our second round pick was…Morrison. It definitely wasn’t him.
January 27th, 2026 at 9:41 am
Great Rookie Class no matter who was best
January 27th, 2026 at 9:44 am
I like both dudes. Benjamin Morrison however looks and plays like a timid little kitty cat of a draft bust.
January 27th, 2026 at 9:57 am
EE was a bad first round pick on a team that was and is in need of defense talent. EE was hyped from day one. Licht had a chance to draft a rare defensive talent in Nick Emannworri and chose EE. EE was fine so long ad Mayfield threw a perfect pass. Anything less than perfect was a problem. Meanwhile, we get to watch playoff receivers making one handed catches, cathing balls slightly behind them and so on. For my money McMillan is the better receiver.
January 27th, 2026 at 10:08 am
Yeah Gipper, you and i both were pounding the table hard for Emmanwori…..oh well. Sometimes Jason listens, sometimes he dont. Im happy for my Gamecock Nick. He’s going to a SB and just might win DROY. He would’ve been misused by todd here anyway….thats why im taking a break as long as todd is still here….i already know the outcome…which might be ok, a top 5 pick next year. Maybe we can finally land a stud pass rusher…but in the meantime, lets get that stud Guard Vega Loane and give Baker some better protection.
January 27th, 2026 at 10:11 am
Like Joe said: Parish started off mighty fine, but EE was just fantastic. For the last 8 games parish had improved a little more but Egbuka got the yips. I’d have to choose Parish.
January 27th, 2026 at 10:14 am
Warren Brooks Lynch Says:
January 27th, 2026 at 9:40 am
Parrish was more consistent game to game, but part of that is because his job doesn’t hinge mostly or entirely on someone else’s job the way Egbukas does.
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WBL, i am with you, I hated the way Mayfield dropped all those passes that hit EE right in the numbers or hands
What a dummy you are …..
January 27th, 2026 at 10:16 am
I was leaning towards Emmanwori too, but I still had memories of Mark Barron leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Emmonwari could play linebacker if he had to, though.
January 27th, 2026 at 10:17 am
Ted, Jacob and Emeka are great picks by Licht. Im hoping Licht finds more rough diamonds for our defense in the draft.
Fans that want to get rid of Licht are delusional. SMH
January 27th, 2026 at 10:19 am
parrish might have just looked like a shiny young piece in a bad lagging defense…
but both looked pretty good…
parrish might have improved a bit as the season wore on…but the eggman hit the rookie wall like a crash test dummy
January 27th, 2026 at 10:21 am
Elijah Roberts deserves praise too!!!!
he was just as consistent as Parrish!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
January 27th, 2026 at 10:21 am
I believe that, despite some Bucs fans wanting Jason Licht to walk the plank, ALL of the 2025 draft picks will have a good career. That includes those two, but also:
Benjamin Morrison
David Walker
Tez Johnson
Elijah Roberts
In addition to those players, I predict that a couple of the 2025 undrafted free agents will also have long careers, especially Ben Chukwuma.
If I owned an NFL team, I don’t believe I’d hire any of the commenters here (who want to fire Licht) as my GM. 😉
January 27th, 2026 at 10:22 am
Man i wish we had Seattle’s defensive coaching staff.
I love Emmanwori but who knows how he does in Bowles scheme. Seems to make every secondary player look horrible at some point because they have to do trigonometry live and alternate positions with defensive ends
January 27th, 2026 at 10:22 am
@fred McNeil Emmanwori did give mark baron vibes
January 27th, 2026 at 10:22 am
despite lousy coaching from charlie strong and Bowles, E.Roberts was impressive!!!
GO BUCS!!!
January 27th, 2026 at 10:24 am
Now that I mentioned it…Barron played mostly linebacker for the Rams. Don’t know how good he was. Long time ago now.
One thing I definitely saw in the playoffs was receivers who could catch and defenders who can actually tackle. I got so used to watching Bowles-Ball that I forgot what football looked like.
January 27th, 2026 at 10:26 am
DS, yeah, he did give me Barron vibes too. Another tweener.
January 27th, 2026 at 10:27 am
WBL, i am with you, I hated the way Mayfield dropped all those passes that hit EE right in the numbers or hands
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yeah those 4th quarter INTs vs ATL, CAR & MIA were definitely NOT bakers fault lol
GO BUCS!!!!
January 27th, 2026 at 10:29 am
Parrish was struggling this year too, as a rookie does, overall I got emeka, parish isn’t even in the running but ee is with almost a 1000 yds as a rookie not bad even with the drops.
January 27th, 2026 at 10:42 am
IF IF IF Morrison stays healthy, he will be good. He was hurt most of training camp so he was behind the learning curve. His play was inconsistent but showed me enough that he could be very good. Too bad he’s in Bowles’ complicated system and not Ronde’ Barber’s.
January 27th, 2026 at 11:04 am
EE’s drop-off began at the same time of Mayfield’s drop-off. Go figure. He did drop some passes but not nearly as many as times he was over or under thrown.
January 27th, 2026 at 11:07 am
Ash Says:
January 27th, 2026 at 10:29 am
Parrish was struggling this year too, as a rookie does, overall I got emeka, parish isn’t even in the running but ee is with almost a 1000 yds as a rookie not bad even with the drops.
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If you think Parrish struggled all year, you don’t know football or didn’t watch the games. He was a bright spot on defense/ Didn’t get beat much and didn’t miss many tackles.
January 27th, 2026 at 11:11 am
Doesn’t matter. Regression is Bwoles specialty. He will have them both ready to suck out loud by September of 2026.
January 27th, 2026 at 11:16 am
Does the words this year mean all year nope did parish struggle at times this year yup he sure did maybe you need to comprehend what you are reading and watch more than the last game. Ee had more good games than parish that isn’t the controversial statement you are trying to make it out to be.
January 27th, 2026 at 11:35 am
I’m down with the timing of Egbuka ,Baker drop off. I’m also happy for Parrish being what appears to be a pretty good pick, now we need to stay healthy.
January 27th, 2026 at 11:48 am
How did Emmanwori give Barron vibes? I never got that. I know what I saw while he played for the Gamecocks, then that combine, dude was a beast. Barron wasnt that plus I never recommended Barron. I actually did recommend us converting him to LB but that didnt happen until he went with the rams.
January 27th, 2026 at 11:51 am
I like Parrish more than Morrison. I really thought we hit it out of the park with Buka at first, but something happened.
January 27th, 2026 at 12:42 pm
@Madmax, I can’t speak for DS, and I can’t say I had anything solid against Emmanwori that I could point to directly. I think I just had a bad feeling about the guy. Probably because of remembering Barron. You have a good memory. I don’t remember who I wanted that far back, but I think he an Kuechly were the consensus picks. I don’t remember what our needs were in 2012, but in hindsight… I wouldn’t complain if we had picked emmanwori and maybe we should have. I’ll probably keep a better eye on him in the SB.
January 27th, 2026 at 12:53 pm
The problem EE had was he was unable to get open, didn’t have many targets, and he had too many drops. I think a lot of EEs lack of production had to do with the fact that our Oline backups were pretty pathetic and Baker was constantly throwing to his check downs. Parrish played up and down and has the ability to get better. Think he will get a lot better next year when Licht finally gets some decent OLBs and ILBs. lol..