{"id":736816,"date":"2026-02-08T00:13:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T00:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/736816\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T00:13:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T00:13:24","slug":"im-on-this-team-for-one-reason-joebucsfan-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/736816\/","title":{"rendered":"“I’m On This Team For One Reason” – JoeBucsFan.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Click through to BillCurrieFord.com to see their extraordinary offers. Family-owned in Tampa since 1960! Bill Currie Ford general manager Sean Sullivan is ready to help you PERSONALLY and give you the Ira Kaufman discount on top of their sale prices. Don\u2019t Worry, Drive Currie!<\/p>\n

BY IRA KAUFMAN<\/p>\n

Fast start, slow fade.<\/p>\n

Buc fans have to be quite pleased with the overall rookie season turned in by Emeka Egbuka, who led Tampa Bay receivers in every key metric last season. Jason Licht couldn\u2019t have asked for much more from the 19th overall pick, who developed an instant rapport with Baker Mayfield in training camp.<\/p>\n

Although Egbuka finished just shy of 1,000 yards, his rookie year was wildly inconsistent. He grabbed the early lead for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors with a glorious September, but Egbuka\u2019s numbers began a steady drop as autumn leaves began to fall.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>He averaged five catches and 89 receiving yards through five games, opening with a flourish by catching the winning TD with only 59 seconds remaining in the season opener at Atlanta.<\/p>\n

The numbers kept piling up for this smooth route runner out of Ohio State, where Egbuka set career receiving records for a program known as a wideout factory for the pros.<\/p>\n

But just as everyone was raving about Egbuka\u2019s skill set, his production cratered. A hamstring injury didn\u2019t help, but he still managed to be on the field for 78 percent of Tampa Bay\u2019s offensive snaps.<\/p>\n

As the Bucs stumbled to a 4-8 finish, Egbuka\u2019s average plunged to 3.2 catches and 41 receiving yards per game. Only once in those final 12 games did Egbuka manage more than 64 receiving yards and he reached the end zone just once after posting five TD catches in the first five weeks.<\/p>\n

Despite a prolonged slump, Egbuka\u2019s target numbers remained steady. Mayfield never lost faith, but Egbuka\u2019s soft hands betrayed him in the final three months and he finished with nine drops \u2014 the fifth-highest total in the league.<\/p>\n

In a critical 24-20 home loss to New Orleans, a wide-open Egbuka failed to haul in Mayfield\u2019s potential game-tying TD pass in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m on this team for one reason,\u201d Egbuka said after the setback. \u201cThat\u2019s to catch the ball. I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bucs are counting on Egbuka to shrug off his struggles and recapture the form that had opposing coaches raving about his poise and talent. Perhaps Egbuka set the bar too high with that record-setting start.<\/p>\n

Panthers rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan saw Egbuka up close twice in 2025 as the Bucs and Panthers split their series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big fan of the player that he\u2019s become and the person that he is,\u201d McMillan said of Egbuka. \u201cHe deserves everything that has come his way. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing what the future holds for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

So are the Bucs, who expect another big season from a 23-year-old uber talent yearning for another September Song.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Click through to BillCurrieFord.com to see their extraordinary offers. Family-owned in Tampa since 1960! Bill Currie Ford general…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,2599,2598,7,6,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-736816","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-bucs-message-boards","10":"tag-bucs-news","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-tampa-bay","14":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","15":"tag-tampabay","16":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116032125101580069","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}