Emeka Egbuka Talks Worn Down Legs
February 21st, 2026
Joe already wrote about how Emeka Egbuka admitted to crashing into the famed rookie wall last season. Egbuka, though, also noted a couple of weeks that really illustrated his struggles.
Egbuka told SiriusXM NFL Radio that his rookie wall issues were signficantly more physical than mental. And yes, for some rookies it’s a mental struggle, whether it be constant adjustments, dealing with losing they weren’t used to in college, or just not being used to intense focus for so many weeks.
Egbuka noted how he came out the bye week on fire against New England. Joe will note that Egbuka faded after that.
“One of the best weeks for me was the bye week and to be able to [get] off my legs,” Egbuka said.
“And then you know, I come off the bye week and I exploded after that, too. Even learning your process in recovery and everything like that is a very valuable lesson that I learned. Because now I know how to take care of my body the best way so I’m able to perform.”
The Bucs’ 2025 first-round draft pick had six catches for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots on Nov. 9. the game following the Bucs’ bye. That was his last score of the season, and his final eight games included 21 catches for just 261 yards.
Joe thinks it’s telling how Egbuka referred to the bye as a “best” week and that he fell off two weeks after the bye.
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February 21st, 2026 at 11:11 am
I kept seeing Baker force it to him over and over, even tho he had little/no separation
February 21st, 2026 at 11:16 am
Beee, that’s because he was the only one remotely open. Great Offensive scheme, exceeded only by the defensive scheme.
February 21st, 2026 at 11:29 am
Everytime I see his 938 yards total i cringe. Cant believe he didnt get that 1k.
February 21st, 2026 at 11:43 am
Patriots game is when Ben Bredeson initially went out with his hamstring injury. It was the end for the offensive line since Mauch was already out for the year.
Offensive line shredded=no time for passes to Egbuka. Or much of anything else…
February 21st, 2026 at 12:07 pm
Nutterbuccer Says
“Everytime I see his 938 yards total i cringe. Cant believe he didnt get that 1k.”
I feel the same way. They should have made sure he got the 1K. He can never fix that now.
February 21st, 2026 at 12:12 pm
All rookies hit a wall at some point. Some do it quickly, some take a little longer.
The way through the wall is forcing your way through it, but rookies don’t always understand that.
The other side of it is a rookie year is when they learned the areas they need to improve. Good mentors help guide them through the following off season. Mike Evans is a good Mentor. JPP was a good mentor (and worth hiring in that regard).
We do not have good mentors across the board though…so we need to figure that out.
It’s the very first thing to deal with in player development. Once they figure out that stuff, they start to figure out the pro game.
In Tampa, you have the added heat factor…which is a wall in and of itself.
February 21st, 2026 at 12:22 pm
Sore hands, tipsy on the accolades and clearing room on his mantle for the ORY award. The drop off mirrored the team collapse.
February 21st, 2026 at 12:41 pm
@Stpetematt spot on. Which is why I won’t be sad if we draft a guard at 15. Do Seattle win without Zabel? Probably not.
February 21st, 2026 at 1:38 pm
I like how people pretend the issue wasn’t Baker, who couldn’t even get the ball in the zip code of his receivers from about week 7 to week 17. Gee, I wonder why his production went down. Meanwhile, go watch the tape and how many times he was open where Baker massively overthrows him.
The issue was Baker. 100% on Baker.
Good news, if it was injury, then the issue will correct itself. Well until he has a bad game, at which point we’ll learn he’s ‘injured’ yet again.
February 21st, 2026 at 2:55 pm
Baker’s poor performances were not Todd Bowles’ fault. Oh, and Egbuka is the reincarnation of Michael Clayton only without the blocking.
February 21st, 2026 at 3:01 pm
No wonder rookies hit a wall, especially receivers. With all the practices, then the games, then bowls games depending how far they go, then training for the Westminster, I mean combine, then training camp, no wonder they’re shot. This time off will help heal the legs and get ready for 1 year instead of 1.5 of straight football.