The Rookie Class
January 17th, 2026
Early star; late rumor.
Man, the way Bucs rookie Emeka Egbuka jumped out to such a hot start, Joe thought he was going to carry the offense.
But something happened along the way to San Jose/San Francisco/Santa Clara area of Silicon Valley where the Super Bowl will be held next month. What that something was, Joe has no idea but Egbuka vanished when the team needed him the most.
Over at BSPN, the founder of Football Outsiders (RIP) and the inventor of DVOA, Aaron Schatz, typed up a ranking of each NFL team’s rookie class.
Schatz had the Bucs at No. 16, right in the middle of the pack. And Joe is convinced had Egbuka gotten better as the season grew old, not the other way around, Schatz’s ranking for Tampa Bay would have been much better.
But fear not, Bucs fans. Schatz seems to think Mayfield’s struggles had a lot to do with Egbuka’s disappearance.
Let’s start with first-round wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. His production slowed down in the second half of the season, but that’s in part because Baker Mayfield was throwing him fewer catchable passes. For the entire season, Egbuka had 63 catches for 938 yards and six touchdowns.
There is no doubt Mayfield’s play slipped badly, too. Is that the real reason Egbuka vanished? Was Egbuka unable to adjust as defenses keyed on him more? Is one reason Josh Grizzard is gone because he couldn’t scheme Egbuka open?
Egbuka didn’t help himself with a handful of bad drops, which early in the season seemed improbable.
Here is why Joe is just a wee bit dubious of putting Egbuka’s downfall on Mayfield. Late in the season, Egbuka was splitting snaps with No. 3/4 receiver Jalen McMillan.
If Egbuka was consistently getting open, he wouldn’t have been splitting snaps with anyone.