WHY EMEKA EGBUKA FELL OFF 🤯 Steve Smith’s rookie report card
Emeka Egbuka was the talk of the NFL after a historic start to his rookie season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In this Rookie Report Card, NFL legend Steve Smith Sr. and James Palmer go into the lab to analyze how the Ohio State product nearly hit 1,000 yards despite a wild “tale of two seasons.” We dive into the elite route running that fueled his early-season explosion and look at the film to identify why his production dipped down the stretch.
Key Highlights:
*The Historic Start:* How Egbuka became the first player since 1970 to catch a game-winning TD in the final minute of his NFL debut.
*The Late-Season Slide:* Steve breaks down the “rookie wall,” QB chemistry, and the defensive adjustments that slowed Emeka down.
*Steve’s 2026 Outlook:* What the “Big Dog” expects from Egbuka heading into Year 2 in Tampa Bay.
Bucs fans: Are you worried about Emeka’s late-season slump or is he a future WR1? Let us know in the comments! 👇
0:00 Emeka Egbuka
5:50 Second Half Slump
13:00 Drops
16:00 Film
20:30 Grades
#nfl #nfldraft #buccaneers #fantasyfootball
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19 comments
Yessss
It’s still mind-boggling to me that they don’t put Mike and Larry in the same conversation
Embuka a dog, tet still my #1 going forward though. Based on career potential
why? evans, godwin and mcmillan were out
I'm still high on Egbuka for next year he's an absolute beast, that second half of the year for the Bucs was compromised by disaster upon disaster in terms of injury, coaching and just about every other issue. I fully expect that he's back to being a WR1 with or without Evans next year all he needs is Baker to avoid injury
I have NEVER seen a player start a season this hot and finish this cold
Egbuka will thrive once Evans and or Godwin leaves.
Gotta always give Steve Smith Sr his credit, the dude knows his craft in and out. He may not have been one of the most talented or greatest WR's of all-time, but he's definitely one of the smartest and one of the guys that made the absolute most out of his opportunities.
How did you feel about Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, and the Chargers WR room in general?
One of his best game evans and Godwin wasn’t playing
Can’t wait to redraft him, comeback is going to incredible
ITS CALLED DEPTH! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR 3 STARTING RECEIVERS GET HEALTHY! MIKE EVANS, CHRIS GODWIN AND JALEN MCMILLAN WAS ALL HURT FOR THEM FIRST 8 GAMES OR SO CHRIS WAS IN AND OUT BUT HE WAS STILL BANGED UP SO IT GAVE EMEKA ALL THE TARGETS SO ONCE THEY GOT HEALTHY HES REALLY THE 4TH OPTION AT THE POSITION 🤷🏿♂️
That DOOM shirt is outstanding. R.I.P.
Steve, when you run off stats/numbers, it would help to include where those numbers ranked amongst their peers
As a Bucs fan, this assessment was spot on
Constant injuries through the offense. Baker, O-line, and I believe he even got banged up throughout the yr. Something nobody mention as well is how his defense also fell off a cliff.
It was revealed that Baker had 4 injuries during the seconded half of the season. He was not the same. Also defenses made adjustments as the season went on and the Bucs OC struggled to counter. It was his first season as a play caller and it showed. Even when all the WRs came back at the end he was struggling with his play calling.
He has a short,streaky, inaccurate journeyman QB who can't read a defense. Tampa offense was 21st in 2025 and 23rd in 2023. Better QB he'd have been better.
He's the 5th best WR in that room, that's why.