Analyst Questions Buccaneers Pick of Emeka Egbuka

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers landed a haul in Green Bay last week at the 2025 NFL Draft, and surprised many with the selection of Ohio State wideout Emeka Egbuka with their first pick.

Tampa Bay was thought to want a top defensive player here, but the selection of Egbuka showed the draft prowess of general manager Jason Licht.

CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards thinks the pick of Egbuka is “questionable” at best because of his perceived lack of “need” for a wideout on the Bucs’ roster.

“Each of the six players picked were taken in the expected range, so Egbuka is the most questionable because he is the least necessary in the short term,” Edwards wrote. “Chris Godwin is returning from injury and Mike Evans is not getting any younger, so it was relatively easy to see their long-term plans with Egbuka.”

“However, last year’s draft pick, Jalen McMillan, did some good things for the organization and is now relegated to the fourth wide receiver when all are available,” Edwards added. “Egbuka is a good player but there were bigger needs to address.”

While wide receiver is not a glaring need on the Bucs’ roster this offseason, it doesn’t mean they don’t need one at all.

Licht has a plan, as he revealed on WDAE not long after the selection show was finished.

“[Egbuka] does allow us to make sure that Chris does do his rehab correctly and we don’t rush him, and all those things,” Licht said. “So that does give us a little comfort with the pick — that we can do that, to make sure that’s he’s not rushed back. But [Egbuka] had nothing to do with where Chris is currently in the rehab.”

The Bucs return all 11 starters from an offense that ranked near the top of the league last season.

Therefore, it was only logical that Tampa Bay and Licht would focus on defense in this year’s selection process, which they did, even taking cornerbacks in Rounds 2 and 3.

Egbuka will allow Godwin to take his time with his recovery, while the Bucs don’t suffer on offense while he’s gone.

Another brilliant move by Licht.

Analyst Questions Buccaneers Pick of Emeka Egbuka

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